''Ft. Lake'' ("Fort Lake") is an album by

His Name Is Alive His Name Is Alive is an American experimental rock band/project from Livonia, Michigan. After several self-released cassettes, they debuted on 4AD Records in 1990, starting a long run at the label. Throughout the band's long history, leader Wa ...

, released by

4AD 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name Axis Records by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD after the release of th ...

in 1998.

History

Work on ''Ft. Lake'' ("Fort Lake") began shortly after completion of the

Nice Day EP ''Nice Day'' is an EP by His Name Is Alive, released by 4AD in the UK in 1997. History After the completion of the tour for '' Stars on ESP'', His Name Is Alive leader Warren Defever found himself with a steady lineup for perhaps the first tim ...

, with the same newly stable lineup of leader

Warren Defever Warren Defever (first name often spelled Warn; born April 30, 1969) is a musician and producer, originally from Livonia, Michigan, and now based in Detroit. He is most known for his chameleonic project His Name Is Alive, though he is active in num ...

on guitar, Chad Gilchrist on bass, Trey Many on drums, and vocalists Karin Oliver,

Lovetta Pippen His Name Is Alive is an American experimental rock band/project from Livonia, Michigan. After several self-released cassettes, they debuted on 4AD Records 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under ...

, and

Dara Albro Dara is a given name in several languages. Dara, Daraa, or DARA may also refer to: Geography Africa * Dar'a, region in northern Ethiopia * Dara (woreda), region in southern Ethiopia Asia * Dara (Mesopotamia), an archeological site in Ma ...

( All Virgos Are Mad and

). Defever stated in an interview around the time of the album's release that he was trying to have less control, and focus more on being the main songwriter and guitarist. He even went so far as to work with an outside producer for the first time, recruiting

Steve King Steven Arnold King (born May 28, 1949) is an American former politician and businessman who served as a U.S. representative from Iowa from 2003 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he represented Iowa's 5th congressional district un ...

, who had previously produced

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

and George Clinton. The album's recording also coincided with the start of big changes at

. During this era, 4AD co-founder and president

Ivo Watts-Russell Ivo Watts-Russell (born 1954) is a British music producer and record label executive. He was joint-founder with Peter Kent of the independent record label 4AD. He has produced several records, although he prefers to use the term "musical director" ...

made plans to sell the label back to

Beggars Banquet ''Beggars Banquet'' is the seventh studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 6 December 1968 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom and London Records in the United States. It was the first Rolling Stones album pro ...

, from which he had purchased sole interest back in 1981 (this deal was completed in early 1999); 4AD's distribution contract with

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

in the USA had come to an end; and

Vaughan Oliver Vaughan Oliver (12 September 1957 – 29 December 2019) was a British graphic designer based in Epsom, Surrey. Oliver was best known for his work with graphic design studios 23 Envelope and v23. Both studios maintained a close relationship wit ...

and his v23 design firm (whose distinctive covers had virtually defined the label's aesthetic) announced plans to break away from 4AD, designing covers on a less frequent basis for the label. Most importantly around this time,

signed their first real contract with 4AD. Previously, Ivo had a loose arrangement with Defever to release what he was interested in, leaving Defever free to pursue many independent releases and side projects. With the new regime, the relationship between Defever and 4AD was now more of a traditional contract between a band and a record label, bringing with it increased commercial expectations. Probably not coincidentally, ''Ft. Lake'' is one of the least artsy and most accessible LPs in the band's catalog. Recorded over 1997 and 1998 at Defever's Time Stereo studio, the album was released on 4AD (CAD8009 on LP and CAD8009CD) in the UK in late June 1998. Due to 4AD's reorganization and their finding distribution in the USA, the CD was not released in America until November.

Sound

The sound of the album is very diverse, touching on all the many styles that HNIA had explored before, along with several new ones. In particular is a newly found interest in funk, soul and R&B, foreshadowing the next two HNIA albums on 4AD, where Pippen (a professional gospel and soul singer before joining HNIA) became the primary vocalist. "How It's Gotta Be" continues the Motown influence that had been prevalent on ''Nice Day'', while "Red Haired Girl" combines rockabilly with a chorus reminiscent of

shoegazer Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with dream pop) is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volum ...

bands. Many musical interludes are provided by Defever's electronic side project Robot World.

Track listing

#Don't Glue the World (4:05) #Everything Takes Forever (4:06) #The Waitress (3:25) #No Hiding Place Down Her (4:32) #Can't Always Be Loved (2:33) #Wish I Had a Wishing Ring (6:06) #Red Haired Girl (4:51) #Spirit Needs a Spirit Tool (3:03) #Up Your Legs Forever (3:45) #How It's Gotta Be (2:07) #Always Turn Me On (4:25) #Rock & Roll Girl from Rock & Roll City (5:08) #Last American Blues (3:29) "Wish I Had a Wishing Ring" was edited down from a version that runs at 17:16. The full-length version can be found on the CD single for "Can't Always Be Loved." A 7-inch EP called "Woodstock" was included with the limited edition LP. The tracks on this EP are: #Woodstock (4:37) #Swan Song (1:32) #Last Train (3:32) These three songs were included on the Japanese CD release of ''Ft. Lake''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ft. Lake 1998 albums His Name Is Alive albums 4AD albums Rock albums Rock albums by American artists