Funeral Lakes is an indie rock project led by Chris Hemer (he/him) and Sam Mishos (she/they). They are currently based out of Kingston, Ontario, a small city where the St. Lawrence and Cataraqui rivers meet on the eastern shore of Lake Ontario. They started Funeral Lakes in spring 2018, self-producing music in their apartment in Vancouver, BC while seeking a creative medium to share their fears and frustrations.
Following a series of singles, the duo released Funeral Lakes (December 2019), their eponymous debut album in support of the Pull Together campaign organized by RAVEN. The release picked up momentum and critical acclaim, including an 8/10 rating from Exclaim!. With lyrics addressing the uncertainty and misery of our time, the album was called "a thoughtful and dreamy neo folk reverie" by Citrus Magazine. The growing buzz around Funeral Lakes led to an invitation to perform at the 2020 Sled Island Festival. But, much like the rest of the world, these plans were put on hold.
Funeral Lakes shifted their attention to recording their follow-up EP, Golden Season (September 2020). It was written, produced, and performed by members Chris and Sam, accompanied in the studio by Charlie Van on drums and by Colin Spratt who engineered, mixed, and mastered the songs. The three-song EP resulted from two days spent together at a studio in North Vancouver. Recorded live off the floor, Golden Season's charged and energetic sound marked a shift from their more subdued debut album. Their track "Earth Falls" was described by Various Small Flames as "an anthem for our current predicament, combining hopeless despair and a steely defiance." Static Sounds Club remarked that Funeral Lakes has "the creativity of Talking Heads, the restrained ennui of Sparklehorse even the madcap irreverence of The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band.”
Continuously writing and recording at home, Funeral Lakes spent the winter months of 2020/2021 self-recording their next EP, Redeemer (August 2021). It was mixed and mastered by Colin Spratt, with remote drumming by Andrew McLeod (Sunnsetter) on tracks "Solstice" and "Place I Stay." Redeemer saw a rise in both international and national radio play, including the CBC and several campus and community radio stations. The EP appeared on !earshot charts for 14 weeks across 5 stations, peaking at #1 on CJSF and reaching #32 on !earshot’s National Top 50. Redeemer was met with critical acclaim, including a 5/5 rating from Alt Revue who wrote that “Redeemer should find its way into your regular rotation.” Tunnel of Trees called Redeemer “a gorgeous piece of music that evokes the exact emotion you would expect from the subject matter” [...] “captivating, poignant, and entrancing. It has heavy replay value and feels blooming in its sound.”
During 2021, Funeral Lakes contributed music to two charity compilations: Black Lab Mix Tape #3 in support of a Vancouver community venue impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and You’re Gonna Be Great 2 in support of Fund Texas Choice, a non-profit organization focused on reproductive justice. In 2022, the band contributed a cover song to BandTogetherTO's Cover Compilation for Toronto Indigenous Harm Reduction, and a song to Broken Sound Tape's Aspirin Age Volume 2 shoegaze compilation. In February 2023, Funeral Lakes released their single "No More Now Forever" which Small Albums named one of the 100 Best Tracks of 2023.
2024 saw Funeral Lakes release their sophomore album North American Martyrs (April 2024)—a deeply researched conceptual album about reckoning with nationalism, history, and settler identity in Canada. North American Martyrs was described by Dominionated as "a thought-provoking, challenging, and deeply satisfying album" and "a resounding voice in the cry for truth." The album charted for 9 weeks on campus and community radio, peaking at #2 on CJLO's Top 30 chart. The release of North American Martyrs was supported by a run of shows in Ontario and Québec. Highlights included playing the main stage at Ottawa Bluesfest (July 2024) opening for Tokyo Police Club, Orville Peck, and Mother Mother, and filming a live session at CJLO radio station in Montréal.
The band is currently working on a new EP, Mountains Turned to Dust, expected in 2025.
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