The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
16
new
SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: SCOTT KLEIN – “WHAT’S MY NAME”
SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: SOUTH OF FRANCE – “SIDEWALK”
SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: HOT LIPS – “FEMICIDE”
SPILL ALBUM PREMIERE: KATEY MORLEY – HEARTS & HEADS & THOUGHTS & DEEDS
SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: LEAHY – “GOOD WATER”
SPILL NEW MUSIC: BILL JR. JR. (A.K.A. VANCOUVER SINGER-SONGWRITER RUSSELL GENDRON) TO RELEASE ‘HOMEBODY’ ON JANUARY 26 | SINGLE “DEAR NEIGHBOUR” OUT NOW
SPILL NEW MUSIC: CAPE TOWN PUNK-DUO THE SOAPGIRLS RELEASE “HEART IN BLOOM” – A LOCKDOWN TRIBUTE TO HOPE AND LOVE
SPILL NEW MUSIC: STRIPPERS UNION RETURN AFTER 10 YEAR HIATUS WITH NEW DOUBLE-LP ‘THE UNDERTAKING’ VIA THE ORCHARD | FIRST SINGLE “WE ARE THE UNDERWORLD” RELEASED
SPILL NEW MUSIC: ROCK HEARTTHROB RICK SPRINGFIELD MEETS CLASSIC ROCK HEROES BADFINGER FOR A SPECIAL NEW SINGLE “LOVE IS GONNA COME AT LAST”
SPILL ALBUM PREMIERE: THE LUXURIOUS FAUX FURS – LIKE A REAL SHADOW
SPILL ALBUM PREMIERE: UNMANNED – UNMANNED
SPILL NEW MUSIC: “SHAMELESS” STAR WILLIAM H. MACY RELEASES DEBUT SINGLE “WHISKEY DELL” UNDER “WILLIE CREEKS” MONIKER
SPILL EP PREMIERE: THE SHINING TONGUES – THE PRAYER
SPILL FEATURE: THE ROLLING STONES’ UNZIPPED – A CONVERSATION WITH THEMUSEUM’S DAVID MARSKELL
SPILL FEATURE: I WAS ROCKER SPICE – A CONVERSATION WITH KATHY VALENTINE OF THE GO-GO’S
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY – MECHANICAL SOUL
  • MORE
  • Reviews
    • Album Reviews
    • Features
    • Live Reviews
    • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • Headlines
    • News
    • Contests
    • Events
    • Entertainment Headlines
    • Concert Listings
    • Toronto Concert Venues
  • New Music
    • Premieres
    • TOTD
  • Books + Movies
  • Scene Unseen
  • About
  • Spill Menu
    • Reviews
      • Album Reviews
      • Features
      • Live Reviews
      • Festivals
    • Portraits
    • Headlines
      • News
      • Contests
      • Events
      • Entertainment Headlines
      • Concert Listings
      • Toronto Concert Venues
    • New Music
      • Premieres
      • TOTD
    • Books + Movies
    • Scene Unseen
    • About
REGISTER
@
LOGIN
Album Reviews
344
previous article
SPILL NEW MUSIC: RAINBOW ARABIA ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM + SHARE FIRST SINGLE | 'LA HEARTBREAK' OUT 11/11 ON TIME NO PLACE/KOMPAKT
next article
SPILL FESTIVAL REVIEW: TURF 2016 - TORONTO URBAN ROOTS FESTIVAL

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: ROYAL CANOE – SOMETHING GOT LOST BETWEEN HERE AND THE ORBIT

Royal Canoe

Royal Canoe
Something Got Lost Between Here And The Orbit
Nevado Music
RATING

In its half-decade reign over the Canadian music scene, Manitoba Indie six-piece Royal Canoe has managed to stand uniquely beside its Canadian counterparts. But nothing in its career gets more out of orbit than their aptly titled, fifth, full-length effort. The tongue-in-cheek title truly encapsulates a record whose themes and sounds are both, indeed, extraterrestrial.

Something Got Lost Between Here and the Orbit boasts itself as Royal Canoe’s most expansive record yet, where an array of unique sounds (ranging from using water bottles as mics to the sound of a Beluga whale calling) seem to take control as lead singer in some of the songs. Take “Bicycle,” for instance, whose instruments are held tightly together by electronic musings in an upbeat dance track until they climax and melt into something softer as the song sputters out its final, gentle remnants. One track you are likely to recall after one listen alone is the standout “Love You Like That,” whose schoolyard taunting sound is handled with an overwhelmingly well-produced touch; its handclapping sing-along chorus is just catchy enough that it never gets annoying. Then there’s “How Long Is Your Life,” a blend of Hip-Hop verses and Gospel-inspired choruses, all successfully handled by a bunch of white guys from Manitoba. Who would have thought? Speaking of genre blends, “Walk out on the Water” is unquestionably the album’s best track. That wonderful delivery of “Uh oh hallelujah!,” which is somehow reminiscent of a softened Kendrick Lamar fronting something as absurdly unfitting as Passion Pit, is enough to give the track a spot in a list of this year’s best songs.

The production overall sparingly lets any cracks become visible, but some moments were bound to lose their luster with their oversaturated layers of electric bliss. “Checkmate” sounds a bit too Walk the Moon in that its electronics limit it to one genre. The experimental “I am Collapsing so Slowly” also feels a bit adrift when it plays between better efforts. Closer “BB Gun,” while being laden with wonderful jazz instruments near the end, remains forgettable against the flashiness of the rest of the album as well.

The risks Royal Canoe takes definitely outweigh the losses. It may just be difficult for us to find ourselves returning to the entire album for a replay instead of focusing on the better material and forgetting about the rest. Those better moments, though, are indeed some of the band’s best.

Artist Links

   

Item Reviewed

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: ROYAL CANOE – SOMETHING GOT LOST BETWEEN HERE AND THE ORBIT

Author

Robert Defina

Here's what we think...
Spill Rating
Fan Rating
Rate Here
New Criteria
10
9.0
7.0
Total Spill Rating
9.0
Total Fan Rating
You have rated this
Album Reviews
how long is your lifelove you like thatnevado musicroyal canoesomething got lost between here and the orbitwalk out on the water
how long is your life, love you like that, nevado music, royal canoe, something got lost between here and the orbit, walk out on the water
About the Author
Robert Defina
Avatar
Robert Defina is an avid critic both on paper and in person. He spends more time writing album reviews than he does worrying about his future. He hopes that this sort of procrastination never grows old.
RELATED ARTICLES
love you like thatnevado musicroyal canoe
 
Royal Canoe

SPILL NEW MUSIC: ROYAL CANOE REVEALS NEW SONG “LOVE YOU LIKE THAT” FROM UPCOMING ALBUM

by SPILL NEW MUSIC on August 23, 2016
ROYAL CANOE REVEALS NEW SONG “LOVE YOU LIKE THAT” FROM UPCOMING ALBUM SOMETHING GOT LOST BETWEEN HERE AND THE ORBIT OUT SEPTEMBER 16 VIA NEVADO MUSIC + NORTH [...]
Latest Album Reviews
View All
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY – MECHANICAL SOUL
8.0
4.8
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: GRIEVOUS ANGELS – THE SUMMER BEFORE THE S...
9.0
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE DIRTY NIL – FUCK ART
7.0
8.9
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: GEORGE THOROGOOD AND THE DESTROYERS – LIV...
8.0
10
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: PAUL McCARTNEY – McCARTNEY III
10
9.2
Latest Live Reviews
View All
 
Lord Huron

SPILL LIVE REVIEW: LORD HURON ALIVE FROM WHISPERING PINES: EPISODE 1 OF 4 (VIRTUAL EVENT)

by Robert Defina on January 7, 2021
82
 

SPILL LIVE REVIEW: WARDRUNA – ‘KVITRAVN’ PRESENTATION (ONLINE PERFORMANCE)

by Samantha Wu on December 10, 2020
152
 
Evanescence

SPILL LIVE REVIEW: EVANESCENCE @ ROCK FALCON STUDIO, NASHVILLE (TN)

by Melinda Welsh on December 5, 2020
47
 
Alice In Chains

SPILL LIVE REVIEW: MoPOP PRESENTS: ALICE IN CHAINS @ MUSEUM OF POP CULTURE, SEATTLE (WA)

by Gerrod Harris on December 1, 2020
58
 
Lowest Of The Low

SPILL LIVE REVIEW: LOWEST OF THE LOW @ LEE’S PALACE, TORONTO

by John Graham on November 28, 2020
1296
Tweets by @spillmagazine

SPILL MAGAZINE MENU
  • Home | The Spill Magazine
  • Premieres
  • Album Reviews
  • Books + Movies
  • Features
  • Live Reviews
  • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • News
  • Events
  • Entertainment Headlines
  • Concert Listings
  • Toronto Concert Venues
  • About Us
  • Contests
  • New Music
  • Spill Magazine Contributors
  • TOTD
  • Privacy Policy
  • The Scene Unseen
  • Newsletter

Copyright © 2020 | The Spill Magazine
All Rights Reserved.

TRENDING RIGHT NOW
   
 
SPILL FEATURE: REMEMBERING LEX GORE: A SPILL MAGAZINE MEMORIAL – TRIBUTE BY SUSANA MEZA
2708
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: JOHN LENNON – GIMME SOME TRUTH. THE ULTIMATE MIXES
651
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MARY HOPKIN – ANOTHER ROAD
591
 
SPILL FEATURE: THAT GOOD OLD FASHIONED RAZZMATAZZ – A CONVERSATION WITH DALLON WEEKES OF I DON’T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME
588
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: QUEEN + ADAM LAMBERT – LIVE AROUND THE WORLD
559
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: PAUL McCARTNEY – McCARTNEY III
532
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: ALTER BRIDGE – WALK THE SKY 2.0
498
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY – MECHANICAL SOUL
492
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: GUIDED BY VOICES – STYLES WE PAID FOR
475
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: JON ANDERSON – 1000 HANDS
468
 
SPILL FEATURE: TO FEEL OUR HUMANITY IN SOLIDARITY – A CONVERSATION WITH NINA HAGEN
445
 
SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: CHURCH OF TREES FEAT. CAROLE POPE – “WORLD’S A BITCH”
435
 
SPILL FEATURE: GIVE THE DRUMMER SOME – A CONVERSATION WITH CINDY BLACKMAN SANTANA
365
ENTERTAINMENT HEADLINES