After performing the song live on tour to eager fans, today, Juno Award-winning, rock duo Crown Lands – Cody Bowles (vocals and drums) and Kevin Comeau (guitar, bass, and keys)— release their anticipated single, “Lady Of The Lake” through Spinefarm/Universal Music Canada.
“Lady Of The Lake” dives deeper into the saga Crown Lands introduced with their 18-minute opus, “Starlifter: Fearless Pt. II” released earlier this month. Bowles explains, “Steeped in a myriad of mythology, our song ‘Lady of the Lake’ tells a tale of an ancient battle for control over the realm and a powerful goddess who is called upon to dispel the darkness. This takes place in the same world as Fearless, but long ago.”
Bowles vigilantly sings the lyrics like retracing a legend; Now she has awoken, Her wrath will shake the world… All will bow before, The power she holds, while the song arrangement builds an energy that allows the listener to fully submerge into the story. “I love the textures we’ve got in this song. I doubled the electric guitar with a 12-string acoustic for most of it. There are lots of Mellotron and Moog Taurus moments in this piece that give it that medieval-meets-outer space fantastical quality. I’m particularly proud of the Leslie-soaked guitar solo in 15/8,” Comeau affirms.
The track is released today alongside the accompanying music video, a ritualistic celebration of the story’s first hero who emerges from the water, soaked with power and purpose. “We wanted to invoke the feeling of something grand and mystical with this piece while recontextualizing fragments of our own real-world mythologies. Blurring these lines, we hope you’re taken to another place altogether and a little further into this fun world we’re creating,” Bowles describes. You can watch the video below.
“Lady Of The Lake” arrives as the second single of Crown Lands’ recently announced sophomore album Fearless, set to release March 31. Fearless was announced with the release of the album opener, “Starlifter: Fearless Pt. II,” a track Guitar World dubbed as “a jaw-dropping voyage through off-kilter riffs, blockbuster guitar tones and dynamic contrasts that not only parallel the Rush playbook but even go beyond it.”
Fearless follows Crown Lands‘ self-titled debut (2020). It was recorded in 80A Studio at Universal studio in Toronto with producer David Bottrill (Rush, Muse, Tool, Mastodon) and came together over a six-month period, in short, intense bursts between tours. Where the debut record showcased Crown Lands aptitude for raw blues rock, Fearless embraces more of the band’s earliest passions in prog-rock.
The album is an unapologetically rich, ambitious work yet easily accessible, plus fans will notice some previously released tracks “Context: Fearless Pt. I” and “Right Way Back” that act as familiar touchpoints framing in the new soundscape. Rather than clobber its audience with complexity, Fearless creates a world you want to spend time in.
Crown Lands continue to introduce themselves to the rest of the world through their high energy live shows. Last year, they joined Greta Van Fleet on the final leg of their “Dreams In Gold” world tour in the U.S. Starting March 10, they head out with fellow Canadian rock outfit, July Talk, playing iconic venues across their home country on “The Never Remember Tour,” plus some headlining shows.