Album Review – Lord Huron’s “Long Lost”

If you’re feeling adventurous and want to journey a little farther afield than the familiar sounds of country, but still want something that remains akin in spirit to the country roots you so love, one direction you can point your snout is towards the Jim James and My Morning Jackets, and M. Wards of the world. Nobody would ever accuse them of being straight-laced country, but their embracing of folk and country modes, and even featuring a little steel guitar here and there gives you just enough familiarity to latch onto so they can ultimately take you somewhere new.
Lord Huron originally from Michigan fits in that category as well. Helmed primarily by Ben Schneider, the band has launched some monster hits in the indie rock world with their dreamy, sparse, and airy sound. You may have never heard it, but their song “The Night We Met” has now gone triple Platinum. Kind of like the Avett Brothers, they’re a big band barely anyone’s heard of.
Strolling through Lord Huron’s recorded output, you may come across a few tracks you could fairly accuse of perhaps being “indie folk,” but that’s about as far as the characterizations might go into the roots realm. But that’s not the case with their new album Long Lost. Diving deep into retro influences, quite a few of the tracks sound like nothing short of classic country run through a spacial filter, while other tracks work in early-era Memphis roots rock sounds.
Add in a bit of mod and surf tones not to too far from the sound of The Sadies that old souls are bound to find quite pleasing to the ear, and Long Lost is fair to label as 50’s and 60’s-inspired Americana, and is much more rootsy and country than much of what is labeled Americana these day that’s trulyanimals of indie rock.

A conceptualized work with interludes and underlying themes, Lord Huron sucks the country audience in from the start with its Ennio Morricone-inspired tones, and Countrypolitan strings and choruses. The first song “Mine Forever” feels like it was pulled straight from a Spaghetti Western soundtrack. “Love Me Like You Used To” could be slipped right into the catalog of Jim Reeves unnoticed. Just the guitar tone alone in “Meet Me in the City” tells you that you’re in the right place as a country fan.
Even the cover art of Long Lost of some hepcat wearing a bolo tie, 50’s-style smoker’s jacket, and holding a hollow body Gretsch guitar helps to visualize the era this album looks to evoke. As the album proceeds, things turn a bit more towards the mod and early rock sounds as opposed to rootsy country like on the sleepwalking “I Lied” with Allison Ponthier. By the time you get to “What Do It Mean,” you’re beginning to veer into Phil Specter territory.
It’s the utilization of space that has worked to Lord Huron’s advantage over the last nearly 10 years. But on Long Lost, they also add the much deeper dimension of time, sending you not just up, but also away, facilitating that fully immersive experience only the best of music can, carrying you somewhere decidedly detached from the mundanity of modern life, and away from the close proximity of daily cares. It’s a bubble bath, or deep sauna for the soul.
Granted, this spell won’t work on the souls of everyone. Even some highly receptive to this type of retro music will find some of the sameness, slowness, and extended play of Long Lost which concludes in a 14-minute epic as too much to hold the attention. Some may just want a bit more meat and potatoes. There are some ebbs in Long Lost‘s 16 tracks that includes the intros and interludes. And even though the songwriting and instrumentation are admirable, they’re not the selling points here. This music is style and ambiance over everything else.
The encroachment of indie rock into the Americana market is almost as alarming as hip-hop into country. But an effort like this by Lord Huron should be strongly encouraged from the way it revitalizes classic roots tones and modes, and delivers them so endearingly to a wider audience. From rockabilly cats, to classic cowboy and Western types, to American roots enthusiasts, and to the indie rockers more native to the Lord Huron audience, Long Lost ingratiates itself by offering a treatise on the beauty of classic American music.
8.5/10
– – – – – – – – – – –
Purchase from Lord Huron
Purchase from Amazon
June 16, 2021 @ 12:39 pm
Good review. I think this album is evidence too that “cowboy pop” is on the rise again. I really don’t mind indie rock injected in the country or Americana space, but at times it does lack context and purpose.
June 16, 2021 @ 12:43 pm
I’m gonna have to check this out. The Night We Met off of Strange Trails is one of my favorite songs. I didn’t realize they had a new album out. Nice!!
June 16, 2021 @ 1:55 pm
Long time reader of SCM and also a long time fan of Lord Huron. (They have been my favourite band since their debut album.) Very cool to see them reviewed on this website; thank you, Trigger!
June 16, 2021 @ 2:22 pm
I, too, am appreciating Lord Huron a lot. Trigger is mentioning that their albums can feel samey but I think that is very much deliberate. I find there’s something almost Krautrock-esque going on when the repetition locks in and the recurring chord progressions are becoming their own groove. Okay, they do sometimes overstep the line that divides artfulness from pretentiousness, but you sure can’t fault them for their ambition and their dedication.
June 16, 2021 @ 5:16 pm
Favorite album this year. Washes over you and doesn’t let go.
June 16, 2021 @ 6:26 pm
Could someone please explain to little ole’ me why many records nowadays sound like they have been produced in a garbage can or tunnel?
June 17, 2021 @ 3:58 am
Wayne,
My best answer. Aesthetic. As in trying to be artsy. I assume you are referring to the use of echo and reverb as an effect. Mr. Sam Phillips, the legendary Sun producer who discovered Elvis and Cash and Perkins and Lewis, used these effects in both studios in Memphis. People lost their minds hearing that sound and attempting to replicate it. Later on Phil Spector would also use those effects on top of his layered wall of sound. Retro sounding bands like this are goung for that same thing.
June 17, 2021 @ 5:50 am
Kevin,
A plausible explanation.
June 17, 2021 @ 10:33 am
I’m a fan of some degree of vintage sound, and generally don’t like the sound of modern records. But this is a little much and sounds gimmicky to me.
Musically not my thing either, but obviously it seems to appeal to a lot of people.
June 16, 2021 @ 7:35 pm
I’ve never heard of them before, but I just looked it up on Spotify and these guys have over 9 million monthly listeners. Apparently they’re huge.
June 17, 2021 @ 4:38 am
I have been a fan of these guys for several years but they’ve kinda fallen of my radar recently… Thanks for the review – can’t wait to check this out.
June 17, 2021 @ 5:18 am
I had not heard of Lord Huron until watching the final scene of the very final episode of the Longmire TV series, being played out by “To the Ends of the Earth” Straightaway bought the Lonsome Dreams CD. Excellent band, different country music but welcome and often haunting.
June 17, 2021 @ 7:04 am
Eh. Kind of boring. Like a Chris Isaak song, but without the superior vocals.
June 17, 2021 @ 7:18 am
Enjoy it. I listened pretty much only to Indie when I was in college. This reminds me of something like Radical Face, The National, and Milo Greene, but with just enough country-adjacent sound to appeal to my current musical preferences.
June 18, 2021 @ 12:28 pm
Where is the Lukas Nelson review?! His best yet!
June 19, 2021 @ 5:32 pm
Space cowboy fans should check out Garrett T Capps.
July 11, 2021 @ 8:54 pm
I think I really like this.
Although I have misgivings about their somewhat “detached” delivery (the indie vibe, I suppose), I will definitely investigate this band.
They’re another act, in a long list, I would never have heard of if not for SCM.
August 20, 2021 @ 4:15 pm
The guitar depicted on the cover is based on a Harmony Rocket, not a Gretsch
September 14, 2021 @ 1:29 pm
Never heard of them until I went to the Moonriver festival in Chatt this past weekend. Counting my quarters for vinyl 😉 Love this band!
June 20, 2023 @ 12:31 pm
I generally think that LH’s music is somewhere between Twin Peaks and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs story lines and mood. Do not think they have made much of a dent on the current Country Music scene. But Ben and group have the creative drive to produce moods of the past with a Western type bent. Really interesting stuff. Bens vocals use of reverb and echo/delay on almost everything they do is kind of hypnotic but starts sounding maybe over played after a few tracks. The melodic lines seem familiar but with a few twists here and there. The songs well crafted lyrics help put everything together to produce the story and mood that says something different is going on here. Lord Huron is definitely on my playlist.