Ways of Escape

VINYL FORMAT. Great Lakes formed in Athens, Georgia in 1996. Founded around the songwriting partnership of Ben Crum and lyricist Dan Donahue with multi-instrumentalist Jamey Huggins, they released an eponymous debut in 2000. Over time, Huggins switched his focus to other projects, and Crum and Donahue relocated to Brooklyn, releasing The Distance Between in 2002 and Diamond Times in 2006. In 2009, Donahue moved back to Athens, leaving Crum to carry on in New York. 2010's Ways of Escape is the first Great Lakes record to feature Crum as the primary songwriter. With its frank and personal folk and country-influenced songs, the record has a bare emotional style that's far from the innocent optimism and lighthearted psychedelia of the band's early records.