When I think of prominent and powerful Toronto-based musical collectives, two bands come to mind. The first, most obviously, is Broken Social Scene. Several albums as a unit, (not including the one in the oven) and countless projects and albums involving any number of members define the Toronto indie rock scene of the aughts. The second, less obvious but no less iconic, is Bruce Peninsula.
The whole is often much greater than the sum of its parts. I would make the case that this is true of Bruce Peninsula. They haven’t released an album proper since 2011’s Open Flames but in the meantime we have been lucky to hear just how strong the individual parts of Bruce Peninsula truly are. Between The Weather Station, Snowblink, Twin Within (and more I’m surely missing) the pieces that make up Bruce Peninsula have certainly proven themselves to be great.
Matt Cully, one of Bruce Peninsula’s core members releases music as EONS and recently gifted fans with the jaw-droppingly great new tune “White-Feather Roses”, from the forthcoming LP, Long Walks. The track immediately stands apart from Cully’s previous solo work. The instrumentation is fuller than that folkier songs that appeared on EONS’ debut LP, Arctic Radio. This was certainly Cully’s intention; he calls Long Walks as a journey to find “new sonic routes to describe distinctly modern struggles.” His guitar work on “White Feather Roses” is warm and precise. Unsurprisingly, it’s fellow BP member and “psychic musical twin” Misha Bower that really elevates “White Feather Roses” to a truly spine tingling experience. The way her full-bodied voice rounds out, beefs up and harmonizes Cully’s already gorgeous melodies makes you wonder why Bruce Peninsula even needs a choir at all. This is easily one of my favourite tracks of the year I’m looking forward to following Cully, Bower and any other Bruce Peninsula members or alumni on whatever journey they wish to take me on.
