Royal Canoe – Living A Lie

Royal Canoe  (Photo courtesy of Kill Beat Music; photo by Bill Acheson)
Royal Canoe
(Photo courtesy of Kill Beat Music; photo by Bill Acheson)

Known for their eclectic mix of indie rock, electronic, and soulful experimentation, Winnipeg six-piece Royal Canoe have taken their sound a step further for their sophomore release Something Got Lost Between Here and the Orbit, out September 16th. The upcoming album’s lead single “Somersault” teased the re-focused sound back in June, but now the indie art-rock group have followed up with the equally mesmerizing tune “Living A Lie”.

Something Got Lost was co-produced and mixed by Ben Allen – a man who has shared his off-centered mastermind with the likes of Gnarls Barkley, Animal Collective, and Deerhunter – and it shows. The new album focuses more heavily on vocals and even more intensely on rhythmic percussion, giving Royal Canoe’s music a sharper frame that leaves plenty of room for their colourful, quirky sound inside.

And “Living a Lie” is proof of that, as the song’s initial groove holds steady throughout the track and the pair of analog and electronic drum kits playfully work off each other. The R&B-infused vocal style of Matt Peters provides a smooth, soft layer of sound, as the rest of the music jumps around in different directions. He explains:

“On the new record we spent a lot of time manipulating organic sounds with elaborate pedal chains and effects loops that we later ran into sampling devices. The goal was to create libraries of sounds that felt somewhat alien, but that still had a familiar ‘skin’ on them. On ‘Living a Lie’ the organ, vocals, sax, and a bunch of the drums were all created with this approach”. 

Enjoy the new track below, and head to their website for more information. Plus, you can catch them on tour this fall (dates below).

Tour dates:

08.20 – Invermere, BC @ Invermere Music Festival

08.21 – Rock Creek, BC @ Ponderosa Festival

09.08 – Guelph, ON @ Brass Taps Pub

09.09 – Waterloo, ON @ Maxwell’s

09.10 – Hamilton, ON @ Hamilton Supercrawl

09.15 – Winnipeg, MB @ Burton Cummings Theatre

09.17 – Lethbridge, AB @ Love & Records Festival

09.18 – Bozeman, MT @ The Filling Station

09.19 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court

09.23 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Hi Hat

09.28 – Portland, OR @ Holocene

09.29 – Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern

09.30 – Vancouver, BC @ Imperial

10.01 – Victoria, BC @ Lucky Bar

10.03 – Rossland, BC @ The Flying Steamshovel

10.05 – Calgary, AB @ Marquee Beer Market & Stage

10.06 – Red Deer, AB @ Bo’s Bar and Grill

10.07 – Edmonton, AB @ UP+DT Festival

10.08 – Saskatoon, SK @ The Capitol

10.18 – Kingston, ON @ The Mansion

10.19 – Quebec City, QC @ L’Anti

10.20 – Fredericton, NB @ Capital Complex

10.21 & 10.22 – Halifax, NS @ Halifax Pop Explosion

10.26 – St. Catharines, ON @ L3

10.27 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace

10.28 – Ottawa, ON @ Zaphod Beeblebrox

10.29 – Montreal, QC @ La Vitrola

10.30 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Showcase Lounge

11.01 – Boston, MA @ Great Scott

11.02 – Philadelphia, PA @ Boot & Saddle

11.05 – New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge

11.07 – Columbus, OH @ Rumba Café

11.09 – Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen

11.12 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *