Hotish on heels of January’s mini-LP Weft, The Animal contains 10 new tracks from Jason Dugan’s Blue Lake. The Texan in Copenhagen hasn’t really changed his sound, but he has certainly fleshed it out.

Blue Lake’s music is still a mix of Alt. Americana and post-rock, with a touch of kosmische, however, where in the past the bulk of Dugan’s recordings have been solo, here talented friends Carolyn Goodwin, Pauline & Nicole Hogstrand (of Halvcirkel), Tomo Jacobson and Oliver Laumann lend a helping hand. Bringing cello, clarinet, double bass, viola and soft syncopation. Their synergy of picking, plucking, honked reeds and brushed snares turning the opener, Circles, for example, into a sleepy, morning after bluegrass waltz. Something like Cut Paper could be country covered by a chamber music quintet. 

Several of the songs feature a singing fiddle and / or the gang’s hushed choral harmonies, while Yarrow introduces a bottleneck blues voice. Dugan’s zither gives Seeds a spiritual jazz edge, and the title track also takes a trip into jazzier Gondwana territory. Grounded by string drones, Vertical Hold, the LP’s longest number, evolves, expands into a pastoral, resembling 70s German collective, Bröselmaschine. Johan Caroe plays banjo – with duelling dexterity, cello and keyboard on the beautiful, buoyant, Penguin Cafe Orchestra-esque Flowers For David. One of the album’s highlights. Strand too, recalls PCO. Full of, celebrating, life. Everything has the feel of folk performed by classical musicians, and while the compositions are kept tight, all vibrate with a real sense of playful, if not improvisation, interaction. It’s easy to imagine a studio packed with smiles.  

Blue Lake’s The Animal can be ordered directly from Tonal Union.