Album Biography
For many artists involved in Windsor, Ontario’s fertile scene, the cultural hub isn’t just separated by a straggling, emerald waterway, it’s divided via an international border.
When the Covid-19 pandemic shelved travel across the iconic Ambassador Bridge and the convenient Windsor/Detroit tunnel, working musicians, artists, content creators, and journalists had been swiftly cut off from collaborators, partners, and creative spaces vital to their craft.
Over nine tracks and 36-minutes, FOUND IN FLOODS, from Windsor, ON’s HURON LINES comes off as a direct response to our shared moment of disconnect, pause, and loneliness and transforms it into a visceral, bruised masterwork.
The angular and muscular “Working Band” touches on the unglamourous side of playing music, as vocalist/guitarist Dave Mueller focuses on restiveness and doubt. The guttural and dusty “Blacklight” gives attention to the often-unspoken plague of mental health suffered by men and the silence that often comes with it. Sonically inspired by one of Huron Lines’ influences, Sonic Youth, “Thurst” tells the tale of lovers parted by the Detroit River during lockdown.
Unable to tour their debut, 2021’s LOST AT THE BORDER, or play “local” shows with friends in the Windsor / Detroit scene, Mueller began to focus his restless energy on writing new lyrics and song structures for what would become their sophomore LP. “Most of the songs started on my acoustic guitar,” he says. “I try to write daily, recording ideas to my phone and keeping that going nonstop every week. The number of voice memos was well into the hundreds.”
After sharing these skeletal ideas with drummer Nick Mitchell and sketching them out further, these new tracks were given the necessary enhancements by guitarist Grainger Harris and bassist/backup vocalist RJ Brando. “I finished the drums about 10 months before most of the other parts were done, so they were like new songs to me when we started mixing”, adds Mitchell.“Covid made writing and recording more challenging but it also gave us a lot of time to consider details and sonic approaches that we may not have otherwise been able to if not for the slowed down nature of the entire process” shared Harris.
HURON LINES’ bandleader/vocalist/guitarist Dave Mueller fronted notable Windsor post-punk/noise outfit Full White Drag in the 00's, touring North America and releasing music distributed via MapleMusic (home to Sam Roberts and The Dears at the time), before taking residency in New York City to record with producer Shane Stoneback (Vampire Weekend, Fucked Up) and musical mentor Scott McCloud (of Girls Against Boys and Soulside).
Joined by Grainger Harris (The Movement, Silent Movie Type) on guitar, RJ Brando (Silent Movie Type, Grough) on bass/backup vocals, and Nick Mitchell (NC17, Ayndrone) on drums, FOUND IN FLOODS shows the quartet releasing the best music of their respective musical careers—pulling gracefully and forcefully from post-punk, shoegaze, garage rock, and sludge metal, all the while leaving the listener with something that could only have been birthed amongst the shadows of the Motor City.