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SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: SISTER RAY – BELIEVER

Sister Ray

SISTER RAY
BELIEVER
ROYAL MOUNTAIN RECORDS

You don’t get to work with the likes of Mark Ribot if your previous work didn’t draw attention and you don’t express serious talent along the way. That is the case with Toronto’s Ella Coyes, around whom the Sister Ray project evolves. Their debut album Communion and EP Teeth have garnered enough attention and critical acclaim for the expectation for Believer to gain the engagement of Ribot and the likes of Paul Spring and Isaiah Barr, who respectively have worked with the likes of Fleet Foxes and David Byrne.

Still, that wouldn’t matter much if Coyes’ songs and performance here weren’t up to scratch—on the contrary, it seems that their songwriting has gone further in its refinement and complexity, working with elements that constitute folk/roots and indie rock, and re-arranging them in a manner that suits Coyes’ musical vision. The result is a music that reveals its elements with every next play of  the 11 songs here and makes the listener a believer.



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SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: SISTER RAY – BELIEVER

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Ljubinko Zivkovic

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About the Author
Ljubinko Zivkovic
Formerly a lot of things, including a journalist and a translator, currently a freelance writer living in The Netherlands.
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