Music Review | Rae Spoon: Armour

Beck Patterson, Contributor

Coax Records | Score: A+

Calgary native Rae Spoon’s latest release, Armour, is a fresh take of Spoon’s signature haunting melancholy. Following up 2013’s My Prairie Home’s blend of folk and ambiance, Spoon has ditched the acoustics and seamlessly blends their pensive lyrics with dancey synth tracks.

Stand-out tracks include the percussively ghostly anthem, “Written across the Sky;” “Stolen Song,” a rhythmic track that has a more pop feel; and “Flood,” a devoted love song. The album finishes strongly with a softer note with “Try Again at Everything,” a track bigger than the others on the album that leaves listeners with a new resolve.

If My Prarie Home was Spoon reflecting on growing up as queer in the harsh Prairies, Armour is an album full of a seemingly renewed energy from Spoon—reassured, confident, and optimistic.