Few bands capture the quiet beauty of the Canadian landscape like Great Lake Swimmers. Led by songwriter Tony Dekker, the Southern Ontario indie-folk collective has built a reputation over two decades for crafting music that feels both timeless and deeply rooted in place. With their signature blend of acoustic instruments, rural soundscapes, and wistful vocals, the band first gained attention in the early 2000s with a run of atmospheric records often recorded in unusual, resonant spaces — from old grain silos to country churches.
That sense of pastoral intimacy has carried through their career, with live performances often described as homespun yet lush, a kind of Americana by way of the Canadian wilds.
Now, Great Lake Swimmers are entering a new chapter with their upcoming album, Caught Light, due out October 10, 2025. Recorded in just five days in Ontario’s Ganaraska Forest, the album finds Dekker and his collaborators leaning into a more direct and instinctive sound. Working alongside producer Darcy Yates (Bahamas) and engineer Jimmy Bowskill (Blue Rodeo), the group tapped into the immediacy and warmth of early ’70s folk-pop, while retaining the reflective spirit that has long defined their music.
If their earlier albums were shaped by reverberating walls and sacred stillness, Caught Light feels alive with motion and breath — a snapshot of a band reconnecting with instinct and intuition. For long-time fans, it promises both familiarity and surprise: the atmospheric textures are still there, but Dekker’s songwriting carries a newfound spontaneity, a sense of being fully present in the moment.
With Caught Light, Great Lake Swimmers remind us why they’ve remained one of the most compelling voices in indie-folk: songs that glow with intimacy, yet echo across landscapes.