Royal Canoe – Living A Lie
(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
