History

Work on Ft. Lake began shortly after completion of the Nice Day EP

Nice Day EP

-History:After the completion of the tour for Stars on ESP, His Name Is Alive leader Warren Defever found himself with a steady lineup for perhaps the first time in the band's history; veteran vocalist Karin Oliver and drummer Trey Many, along with newer members: vocalist Lovetta Pippen and bassist...

, with the same newly-stable lineup of leader Warren Defever

Warren Defever

Warren Defever is a musician and producer from Livonia, Michigan. He is most known for his chameleonic project His Name Is Alive, though he is active in numerous other circles...

 on guitar, Chad Gilchrist on bass, Trey Many on drums, and vocalists Karin Oliver

Karin Oliver

Karin Oliver is a former singer for the Livonia, Michigan band His Name Is Alive. She was with the band from 1989 to 1998. After leaving the band following the USA release party for the Ft. Lake album, she pursued a career in marketing full time. She also provided vocals for Velour 100, a band...

 and Lovetta Pippen. Defever stated in an interview around the time of the album's release that he was trying to have less control, and focus more on being the main songwriter and guitarist. He even went so far as to work with an outside producer for the first time, recruiting Steve King

Steve King

Steven Arnold "Steve" King is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party.The district is located in the western part of the state and includes Sioux City and Council Bluffs....

, who had previously produced Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin

Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...

 and George Clinton

George Clinton (funk musician)

George Clinton is an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and music producer and the principal architect of P-Funk. He was the mastermind of the bands Parliament and Funkadelic during the 1970s and early 1980s, and launched a solo career in 1981. He has been cited as one of the foremost...

.

The album's recording also coincided with the start of big changes at 4AD

4AD

4AD is a British independent record label that was started in 1979 by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, funded by Beggars Banquet Records, and is still active today...

. During this era, 4AD co-founder and president Ivo Watts-Russell

Ivo Watts-Russell

Ivo Watts-Russell was joint-founder with Peter Kent of the English indie record label 4AD. He has also produced several records, himself preferring to use the term "musical director" to explain his role in the creation....

 made plans to sell the label back to Beggar's Banquet, from which he had purchased sole interest back in 1981 (this deal was completed in early 1999); 4AD's distribution contract with Warner Bros. Records

Warner Bros. Records

Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...

 in the USA had come to an end; and Vaughan Oliver

Vaughan Oliver

Vaughan Oliver is a British graphic designer based in Epsom, South of London. Oliver is most noted for his work with graphic design studios 23 Envelope and v23...

 and his V23 design firm (whose distinctive covers had virtually defined the label's aesthetic) announced plans to break away from 4AD, designing covers on a less frequent basis for the label.

Most importantly around this time, His Name Is Alive

His Name Is Alive

His Name Is Alive is an experimental rock band/project from Livonia, Michigan. After several self-released cassettes, they debuted on 4AD Records in 1990, starting a long run at the label...

 signed their first real contract with 4AD. Previously, Ivo had a loose arrangement with Defever to release what he was interested in, leaving Defever free to pursue many independent releases and side projects. With the new regime, the relationship between Defever and 4AD was now more of a traditional contract between a band and a record label, bringing with it increased commercial expectations. Probably not coincidentally, Ft. Lake is one of the least artsy and most accessible LPs in the band's catalog.

Recorded over 1997 and 1998 at Defever's Time Stereo studio, the album was released on 4AD (CAD8009 on LP and CAD8009CD) in the UK in late June 1998. Due to 4AD's reorganization and their finding distribution in the USA, the CD was not released in America until November.

Sound

The sound of the album is very diverse, touching on all the many styles that HNIA had explored before, along with several new ones. In particular is a newly found interest in funk, soul and R&B, foreshadowing the next two HNIA albums on 4AD, where Pippen (a professional gospel and soul singer before joining HNIA) became the primary vocalist. "How It's Gotta Be" continues the Motown influence that had been prevalent on Nice Day, while "Red Haired Girl" combines rockabilly with a chorus reminisicent of shoegazer bands.

Many musical interludes are provided by Defever's electronic side project Robot World.

Track listing

1. Don't Glue the World (4:05)
2. Everything Takes Forever (4:06)
3. The Waitress (3:25)
4. No Hiding Place Down Her (4:32)
5. Can't Always Be Loved (2:33)
6. Wish I Had a Wishing Ring (6:06)
7. Red Haired Girl (4:51)
8. Spirit Needs a Spirit Tool (3:03)
9. Up Your Legs Forever (3:45)
10. How It's Gotta Be (2:07)
11. Always Turn Me On (4:25)
12. Rock & Roll Girl from Rock & Roll City (5:08)
13. Last American Blues (3:29)

"Wish I Had a Wishing Ring" was edited down from a version that ran for over 13 minutes. The full-length version can be found on the CD single for "Can't Always Be Loved."

A 7-inch EP called "Woodstock" was included with the limited edition LP. The tracks on this EP are:

1. Woodstock (4:37)
2. Swan Song (1:32)
3. Last Train (3:32)

These three songs were included on the Japanese CD release of Ft. Lake.