Doubt, followed by discovery. Demos that ended up as finished tracks. New beginnings, rear-view reflections, and ruminations on the fluidity of time:Uncertain Countrycaptures thesefeelings and so much more.This celebration, 11-songs long, follows a prolonged period of collective anxiety. Though recorded in different locales—and with a variety of musicians—a theme of questioning runsthroughout. Even before the worldturned upside down, singer-songwriter Tony Dekker feltmiredin uncertainty: from the climate crisis andt he ever-changingpoliticallandscapeto deepshiftswithin themusic industry. The“uncertain country”Dekker chose as the album’s theme isnot a specific place. Rather, it’s a territory we,as humans, inhabit in the 21stcentury—a worldthat, more often than not,isconfusing, unfamiliar and unsettling.The long journey from there to here started more than three years ago, when Dekker took a 10-day trip to one of his favoriteplaces: the north shore of Lake Superior. A pair of friends andcollaborators: Adam CK Vollick (who filmed the experience) and Joe Lapinski (who co-producedUncertain Country) joined him. On this immersive trip, the songwriter soaked in thebeauty of the landscapes and learned the stories of the people who have inhabited themsincetime immemorial The two songs that openUncertain Country,the title track and “WhenThe Storm Has Passed,”were recorded at the Oddfellows Temple Hall in St. Catharines, OntarioinSeptember 2020.These jubilant sessions, following five months of unease, were a much-needed release forDekker and hisband. Both songs capture the album’s themes of the elasticity of time andprocessing change.Making this joyful noise together again set a tone—and direction—for the record. The music morphed from hushed and folky to a more comforting, curated listening experience, acting as akind of salve.One hears echoes of some of Dekker’s early 1990 sinfluences: propeller-pop and indie lo-fi bands like Teenage Fanclub, Galaxie 500,and Buffalo Tom.The rest of the songs onUncertain Countrywere recorded in otheracousticallydistinctivelocations close to Dekker’s home in the Niagara Region.Localesincluded the Silver Spire United Church in downtown St. Catharines, Ontarioand a pair of buildings in Ball’s FallsConservation Area in the village of Jordan Station: an old chapel that featured a pump organand a historic barn on the same property.Long-time Great Lake Swimmers member, multi-instrumentalist Bret Higgins is featured onmanyof the songs, as is keyboardist Kelsey McNulty. Guests include newcomers and oldfriends: the group Minuscule,an all-woman identifyingchoir based intheNiagara Region, ledby choral arranger Laurel Minnes,and JUNO Award-winner Serena Ryder, who sings on a pairof songs: “I Tried to Reach You” and “Swimming Like Flying.

“Moonlight,Stay Above” epitomizes what Great Lake Swimmers represents. The 10-voicestrong choir lifts the lonely-sounding and wistfulsong up.As with that addition, the band oneach album is fluid and always evolving. It always starts and ends with Dekker, but the songsthemselves suggestwhat players and instrumentation might fit best with eachnewrecordingand live touring bandTwenty years since the first self-titled release, Uncertain Country shows a songwriter at the topof his craft with so much more to say. In a time of uncertainty, one thing is certain: the GreatLake Swimmers’first collection of new songs in five years is worth the wait.