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Rae Spoon

“It’s exciting,” says Spoon, laughing quietly as he explains his change of course. “I mean I like singing country, but I really didn’t think that there was a place for me in Nashville.” [Cue the conservative feathers ruffling down yonder in Music City, USA].

Co-produced by the “exceptionally rad” Lorrie Matheson, Spoon pens lyrics that are entrenched in Canadian history and culture, but trades has traded his banjo for a computer to create electronic sounds on his latest outing. The creative underpinnings for experimenting with electronic music are inspired by the techno-ambient music that he was exposed to while living and touring in Europe. “Europe really changed me,” says Spoon. “It changed the way that I looked at what was a valid way to play music for me. Before I was very rigid and bluegrass. Now I appreciate that I’m actually allowed to use a computer to experiment in sound.”

In his new release, Spoon’s voice, songwriting and unique arrangements are rich in texture, mood and character: the haunting hooks in “Come on Forest Fire Burn the Disco Down” and “Off the Grid, Underground” send cold chills that aren’t easily shaken off. While “Forest Fire” speaks to issues of ongoing colonialism, “Off the Grid” is the only song that addresses the big-elephant-in-the-room question, which goes something like, “Why, for the most part, do you keep your transgender experience and politics out of your music?”

Spoon kindly explains: “It’s not a big deal that I’m transgender. I mean that’s who I am, and that’s who I always was. It’s not that interesting to me. Really, I don’t find it that riveting.” Fair enough. Artists do not make statements. They make art. So I apologize to readers hopeful for something a little more piquant and provocative.

Returning to his music, Spoon proudly explains why “Bones in the Museum” is his personal favourite song on the new album. “It’s a huge step for me as a songwriter. The content, the way that the song moves, it’s just a bit more mature and more arranged.” The song refers to a seven-tonne whale that got lost in 2006, making its way up the Thames to central London where many had gathered to watch. Finding a parallel in his life in the story, Spoon writes, “If you are worn down by being in public, remember you are beautiful even in judgment.” (Brae Surgeoner)