Royal Canoe is one of the most innovative, exciting, and unpredictable bands that is out there. Their 2013 release, Today We’re Believers, showed that music that is eccentric can also be super fun and catchy, something that bands can rarely pull off. Yes, acts like Royal Canoe are a rare breed, and Today We’re Believers is a one-of-a-kind album. To follow it up with an album that is equally brilliant and as elegantly idiosyncratic puts this Winnipeg, Manitoba-based outfit on a whole new level of awesomeness; repeating the same high level of artistry is pretty remarkable, to put it mildly.

There is no strict musical style that describes Royal Canoe’s music, except that the band knows how to make beautiful music out of what seems like chaos. In this manner, Something Got Lost Between Here And The Orbit is very similar, and at the same time, totally unique, as compared to its predecessor. On one hand it sounds like its own thing; on the other, it shares the same craziness of Today We’re Believers with its genre-bending music consisting of unusual sounds, maniacal vocals, and unconventional song structures.

On the whole, this release has a much softer sound. While big beats and the loudness of music dominated a lot of the previous disc, these features have been toned down here. The meditative “BB Gun,” with its gentle vocals and calmingly muffled music, is a great example of how the sound is the complete opposite of the hyperactive relentlessness of the preceding album. Even the danciest cut on this record “Checkmate,” with its Kraftwerk-esque minimal beats, uses subtlety rather than zealousness to create a dance floor-ready number. On the other hand, “How Long Is Your Life?” is the exception on this album, with its hip hop beats and excitably hasty vocals that bring to mind the general mood and feel of Today We’re Believers.

Rating: A

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