Song of the Day: Lord Huron - Fool For Love

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Morning Show with John Richards, is “Fool For Love” by Lord Huron from the 2015 album Strange Trails on IAMSOUND Records.

Lord Huron - Fool For Love (MP3)

What started as a trio of songs roughly recorded during a trip to his home state of Michigan turned Ben Schneider's songs into a full-scale folk rock band under the name Lord Huron. Schneider took those songs back to Los Angeles, where he continued recording and gigging under the Great Lakes-inspired moniker. Enlisting his friends Mark Barry, Miguel Briseño, and Tom Renaud (as well as the since-departed Brett Farkas), Schneider began a long touring cycle behind the early EPs and, eventually, their debut LP, 2012's Lonesome Dreams. After finishing the touring cycle for that album, the quartet reentered the studio to work on their sophomore outing. Those sessions produced this year's Strange Trails, which finds the band incorporating both an overarching conceptual narrative (the album has an accompanying comic book) and more significant country influences. Although "Fool For Love" opens with some of the lushest sounds in the band's pallet, the song quickly reveals itself to be one of their most rousing. Built on a steady drum beat and upbeat acoustic guitars, the song has plenty of energy, but wisely chooses not to turn into a festival-bait, Mumford-esque stomper, allowing the airy production to highlight the band's nuanced performance. "Fool For Love" is a rollicking number, but its sparsity provides it with a sense of delicate deconstruction, producing a rare tune that's just as affective with the heart as the hips.

Lord Huron recently played the Showbox at the Market (read our live review of the gig here), but if they make plans to return to the Pacific Northwest, that news will be on their website and Facebook. Below, watch the band perform "Fool For Love" live at the Triple Door for KEXP last month.