Lord Huron perform in The Current studio
April 24, 2018
When Lord Huron stopped at The Current, their latest album, Vide Noir, was but three days old. "For once we timed it right where the record came out when we started touring," laughs Lord Huron frontman Ben Schneider. "It feels good, it feels like the stars are aligned."
Stars aligning is a good metaphor when talking about the album. French for "Black Emptiness," Vide Noir explores an existential concept. "It's about facing the somewhat uncomfortable truths of the universe — it's indifferent to our suffering," Schneider explains. "And that sounds depressing, but I think part of coming to terms with it is staring into the void."
For Vide Noir, Schneider envisaged a story arc. "I always conceived of it as somebody's nocturnal odyssey through a city, and they're in search of something, desperately in search of something," he says. "Along the way, they take all these tangents through different types of places, meeting different types of people, even sometimes spinning off into outer space and then coming back. It's kind of bookended by a very straightforward story, but in the middle of the album it kind of goes all these weird places. And we never quite get to sunshine, but we do get to moonbeams."
When crafting the songs that would become the album, Schneider began writing many of them on bass, his first instrument. "I started playing bass in the orchestra when I was 10," he says. "For a long time, I was writing more on guitar. But I just really wanted to get back to something a little more visceral and urgent, and for some reason, bass is a good place to start for that, for me.
"There's something about bass that if you start there, it can be a really great foundation for a song," Schneider continues. "If you've got a good bassline, you know it's going to be funky."
Before their show at the Palace Theatre, Schneider, along with bandmates Misty Boyce (keys, vocals), Miguel Briseño (bass), Brandon Walters (guitar, vocals), Tom Renaud (guitar, vocals) and Mary Barry (drums), visited The Current for a session hosted by Sean McPherson. Use the audio player above to listen to the complete in-studio session with Lord Huron.
More Video
Songs Performed
"When The Night Is Over"
"Back From The Edge"
"Wait By The River"
All songs from Lord Huron's 2018 album, Vide Noir, available on Whispering Pines/Republic Records.
Hosted by Sean McPherson
Produced by Lindsay Kimball
Engineered by Michael DeMark and Brandon Smith
Visuals by Nate Ryan
Web feature by Luke Taylor
Resources
Lord Huron - official site
