Rae Spoon – Superioryouareinferior Review
Rae Spoon a folk artist out of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. His uniqueness is probably marked by his gender, as he is a transgender that is very evident in his vocals. I don’t really like mentioning it (and I’m glad his publicist didn’t either) as it’s a mute point if ever. It’s hard not to mention it when you want to compare to other artists though, Spoon’s vocals are wonderful and are very female. It isn’t forced and very natural and effortless (at one point the ignorant part of me, thought it would’ve been forced to sound very male like). His vocals are smooth and ultimately one of the many highlights of Superioryouareinferior.
The main theme of this album is Spoon’s travels cross-canada in addition to adding some material on his experiences as a transgender (at least that’s how I interpreted it). Thematically, Spoon does a flawless job. If there was an album I’d take with me on a cross-country journey, this would be it. In a way when he sings “there’s nowhere left to go” (on opener Great Lakes) I’m sparked with sadness that I haven’t seen anything. This album is very emotional with Spoon being open regarding love. The penultimate track (or final track if you don’t think the Solo version of Strength Of Within doesn’t count) We Become Our Own Wolves is my favourite track of the album and just hits the right spot in the heart when he sings “Baby you know I love you, I just can’t leave the house”.
This album is soo good. Spoon does a perfect job putting you in his place and you really feel like you can sleep and dream of the scenery in which Spoon is describing. I’m having a hard time not calling it a “5 out of 5” and ignoring the minor faults. Some parts of songs, I don’t dig too well. Even as much as I like the track “Come On Forest Fire, Burn The Disco Down”, it’s just way too poppy for this album. I love the slow pacing and patience of each track (and it’s intricacies that follow) and this song while satisfying on a different level doesn’t have the same effect that each of the other songs. In a way it speaks to the strengths of the album that I’m calling one of the foremost songs (in terms of popularity on myspace and the disco background) a weakness.
This album was released last year and a huge shame it didn’t make the Polaris Music Prize shortlist.
Rating: 4.9 out of 5
Not quite perfect but Rae Spoon proves that we all are inferior to his superiority.
We Become Our Own Wolves by Rae Spoon
If You Lose Your Horses by Rae Spoon
Tags: album
It’s neither polite nor grammatically correct to say that someones “…vocals are very female.” In addition, if you “don’t like to mention” Spoon’s trans status, you wouldn’t have. It is important enough to dominate your introduction when you’re reviewing someone’s music.