Sounds | Bask - Long Lost Light

Long Lost Light official video

Een dikke week geleden verscheen hun vierde album The Turning. Het vijftal uit de Blue Ridge Mountains maakt volgens de perstekst heavy americana. In het heavy aspect kan ik inkomen, maar op wat vibes na hoor ik toch weinig americana. De muziek van Bask zou ik eerder als psychedelische stoner rock omschrijven, met een wolkje post rock verwerkt. Alles komt mooi samen in deze sfeervolle song die naast de gangbare instrumenten ook pedal steel en cello laat horen.

Het album mag dan geen echte kleppers bevatten, maar beschikt toch over voldoende interessante nummers om te vermelden.

The Turning is op 22 augustus 2025 verschenen via Season of Mist

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Bask remain grounded in the natural-born sounds of Appalachia, but The Turning truly straddles the fence between cosmic and country. "When we started writing this album, the songs were twangy but also spacier and more psychedelic than anything we've done before", vocalist and guitarist Zeb Wright says. Though already in the band’s orbit, this is their first album to welcome Jed Willis as an official member.

"These guys have become friends and brothers to me over the past decade or so", Willis says. "Our music journeys have become intertwined, creating a solid and welcoming foundation that made my transition into the band feel like a natural next step for all of us".

The Turning doesn’t just span genres. The album stretches across generations in man’s never-ending quest for immortality. Its spurred heroine, known simply as The Rider, has her extraterrestrial world turned upside down by "The Traveler", a mysteriously ageless gunslinger, who arrives armed with a double-barreled riff atop galloping drums. Maze-like twists are revealed at every self-referential turn as the star-crossed outlaws try and outrun the changing of the seasons. But while out of this world, the dwellings on family, aging, death and rebirth hit close to home.  

"We’ve been through so much together. We were robbed in Sweden. A tire literally fell off our van while we were driving”, bassist Jesse Van Note reflects. “Because of COVID, we didn’t get together as much, either. We’re also older now and there are challenges and responsibilities that come with that. I have two kids. Some of us have bought houses. We’ve all been through marriages and different relationships. For things to snowball on top of the band one after another, it kind of had us feeling like maybe this was the end of our era".

The Turning was almost lost to the sands of time. Bask finished tracking the album just a few weeks before Hurricane Helene reached Asheville. "It was terrifying", remembers guitarist Ray Worth. "We had a hard time getting in touch with each other. I climbed a hill to get cell phone reception. One of the guys was still unaccounted for the day before we were supposed to leave for Europe".

But just as the album’s heroine discovers her hidden powers, the title track ends with the newly mounted five-piece stampeding toward the next frontier. "I danced through age and fire", Wright belts, backed by everything Bask stand for: mountainous bass, tumbling drums, blazing leads and sunbursts of pedal steel.

"COVID, Hurricane Helene and just life in general threw much instability at us, but I think the resilience of the band and our music shines through”, drummer Scott Middleton says. “It’s been a challenging five years, but I think we did a good job weathering the storm and expanding our sound on The Turning".

Line-up:

Jesse Van Note – Bass

Scott Middleton – Drums

Ray Worth – Guitar

Zeb Camp – Guitar/Vocals

Jed Willis - Pedal Steel

Guest Musicians:

Clay White - Trumpet

Franklin Keel - Cello

Alex Taub ​- Piano, Hammond B3 Organ

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© Garrett Williams