In a call to action that is just three songs long, Funeral Lakes uses its soapbox on the new EP “Golden Season” to advocate for the upheaval of a world order that the Canadian duo sees as a failure and utterly in need of change.
With the bitterness of political punks Pussy Riot but the refined indie-folk chops of countrymen Arcade Fire, it’s a mix of activism and musicality, with difficult messages sometimes blanketed in lush instrumentation. The opener “Eternal Return” starts out gently. “They’re out there promising heaven/ But no kingdom comes,” Chris Hemer and Sam Mishos harmonize, then intone in the chorus, with some soulful r&b flavor, “Sorry truth ain’t as sweet as those lies that you cling to.” That placid flow is jarred during a driving outro, reminiscent of Arcade Fire’s more militaristic, earlier work: “We are the warriors/ Bullshit!/ We are the chosen ones/ Bullshit!”
In “Earth Falls,” Mishos echoes Hemer in the verses before they sing together in the choruses. It’s a pleasant boy-girl back-and-forth that might remind some listeners of The Head and The Heart.
“Power Trip,” the closer, is the most punky, aggressive track here. Mishos rails at a male-dominated world where a “voice of thunder” “makes me small.” Struggling to be heard, she reminds the patriarchy, shouting, “I can see you/ Just as you are/ Erase me!/ Berate me!” While “Golden Season” is for the most part an exercise in showing you can make bold statements without raising your voice, by this point she’s had enough.
Rating: 72/81
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