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Rae Spoon

Superior You Are Inferior

(US: 21 Oct 2008; UK: 21 Oct 2008)

Singer-songwriter Rae Spoon has an Americana foundation to her coffeehouse folk numbers. An example of this is “Great Lakes”, a song that relies on her sweet vocals and an even sweeter, sugar-coated melody. Think of a cross between Kathleen Edwards and Lucinda Williams and you should get the gist of where she’s coming from. Edwards particularly comes to mind on the gorgeous roots pop of “Come on Forrest Fire Burn the Disco Down” and the equally solid and haunting “Bones in a Museum”. Although most of the material is above average, a great moment comes in the slow-dance feel of “If You Lose Your Horses” which instantly brings to mind Chrissie Hynde singing “I’ll Stand by You”. Although Spoon offers up some electronica-tinged touches on some of the latter songs such as “Strength From Within”, Spoon relies on her great craftsmanship to deliver the goods perfectly.

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Originally from Cape Breton, MacNeil is currently writing for the Toronto Sun as well as other publications, including All Music Guide, Billboard.com, NME.com, Country Standard Time, Skope Magazine, Chart Magazine, Glide, Ft. Myers Magazine and Celtic Heritage. A graduate of the University of King's College, MacNeil currently resides in Toronto. He has interviewed hundreds of acts ranging from Metallica and AC/DC to Daniel Lanois and Smokey Robinson. MacNeil (modestly referred to as King J to friends), a diehard Philadelphia Flyers fan, has seen the Rolling Stones in a club setting, thereby knowing he will rest in peace at some point down the road. Oh, and he writes for PopMatters.com.


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15 Aug 2010
Whether dabbling in electronic beats and textures or sticking to more mundane indie folk stylings, Rae Spoon's main virtues are his delicate voice and fragile lyrics of hope and longing.
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