Rae Spoon

Featuring the score and soundtrack to the National Film Board documentary of the same name, the latest release from Montreal-based artist Rae Spoon is a genre-spanning journey, one where visual elements aren't picturesque escapes, but confrontations with the past. The effort is brave, and the results breathtaking. "Brave" because My Prairie Home is Spoon's most personally revealing album to date, capturing stories of abandonment, abuse and coming out as queer while being raised by an evangelical Christian family in Alberta. "Breathtaking" because Spoon matches form to content so succinctly, with a voice so clear and bright that tracks like "This Used to Be the Bottom of An Ocean" and "Amy Grant" achingly convey the fragility of youth in balance with the strength of distance and experience. Drawing from early musical influences, including grunge rock ("Snake in the Water") and country ("Cowboy"), Spoon at once harkens back to the younger self while embodying it, to poignant effect.