Folk duo Quote The Raven hit the right notes at the perfect time with their debut full-length album, Golden Hour

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To know Jordan Coaker and Kirsten Rodden-Clarke, who since 2011 have gone by the stage-name Quote The Raven, one would get the sense that it’s only a matter of time before talent and drive result in critical and commercial success. That time may be upon us with their debut album, Golden Hour. 

Right Place, Right Time

The duo’s 2018 studio debut Golden Hour is the physical embodiment of right place, right time. Crafted alongside master producer Chris Kirby, and featuring an embarrassingly high caliber of Canada’s songwriting elite – Gabrielle Papillon, Ian Janes, Charlie A’Court, Keith Mullins, Stephen Green, Aaron Green, and Dwight D’eon – Golden Hour is a heavy-hitter’s record that pulls no punches.

“The name of the album is Golden Hour, and I think that’s kind of the shtick of this whole thing, that this is the perfect time for us to get out there,” Coaker says. 

“We have this new album. I don’t want to brag, but I think it’s great, some of the best stuff we’ve ever done, and we co-wrote with some amazing people. It was crazy the people we got to work with for this thing. The accumulation of all that stuff is leading up to a huge tour, the biggest tour we’ve ever done. I want to get out there and share this album. We’re so proud of it.”

Music NL Nominations

Quote The Raven burst onto the scene with their 2016 EP Misty Mountains, which yielded a successful island tour and MusicNL nominations in both the Rising Star and Folk/Roots Recording of the Year Categories and a publishing deal with Halifax based Sound of Pop. 

“I think this album is a little more diverse than what we did before,” shares Rodden-Clarke. “It’s a different feel and we tried different things this time.”

Alongside Kirby and the who’s who list of guest artists, Quote The Raven pieced together 14 songs in a four day period. 

“There were so many,” recalls Rodden-Clarke. “To narrow it down to six was just impossible. We didn’t know which ones to pick. At the end of it Chris really loved the songs that we did, so we ended up adding a few more.”

Debut single Laser Beam, with its purely cinematic qualities, has blown up on streaming service Spotify, setting an emphatic tone of what’s to come for the record. 

“It’s crazy. We look at the Spotify number and no song that any of us have released before has even come close,” Coaker says of Laser Beam. “This has become crazy. It’s blowing my mind.”

Much of the early appeal to Quote The Raven comes from the apparent chemistry between Coaker and Rodden-Clarke, friends turned musical partners that bring every bit of their personalities to the stage.

“I think the benefit of us being friends for so long is there’s always kinks and there’s always going to be kinks in everything you do,” Coaker says. “Performance-wise, yeah, I think we have the songs down, but in terms of stage banter, we’re still trying to figure that side of things out. I don’t think anyone ever gets 100 per cent on that one and I think that’s something that comes over time. I think it really plays to our show, the fact that we’re both kind of silly. A lot of music is really serious and relies on those haunting harmonies, but as a juxtaposition, the fact that we kind of don’t know what we’re doing is awesome as well. Trial by fire.”

Moving Forward

As for Golden Hour, there’s an argument to be made that this long-awaited album is the missing piece to the puzzle that defines what will be made of Quote The Raven moving forward. It’s an exciting prospect, and one Coaker and Rodden-Clarke embrace wholeheartedly. 

“We still haven’t really figured out who we are,” Coaker says. “In terms of sound, there’s a lot of great music on this album. I think when we send it out through people it will kind of go through the sorting hat and we’ll finally be able to figure out where we’re going to lie for the next album, and kind of going through there. Everything about it is leading up to that next level of what we’re going to do.

“It feels like we’re here to stay,” he adds. “It is the perfect opportunity for us to go to the next level, whatever that next level is.”

 For tour dates and more visit the band on Facebook and  quotetheravenofficial.com