MERCEDES ARN-HORN - VOCALS, GUITAR
PHOENIX ARN-HORN - VOCALS, DRUMS, SYNTH
BRANDON LOCKWOOD - BASS
We are all built for change and evolution, and Kitchener's Courage My Love is no exception.
These Warped Tour warriors have advanced their sound from feverish guitar-bass-drum pugilism to something more complex, dynamic and striking for their debut InVogue/Warner Music Canada album, Synesthesia. Fans will notice within the very first few bars of "Stereo," Courage My Love's incredibly contagious first single, a sumptuous synth hook indicating that twin sisters Mercedes (singer, guitarist) and Phoenix (drums, synth, programming, vocals) Arn-Horn and bass player Brandon Lockwood are pursuing more sophisticated sonics.
"We didn't want to be stuck underneath a female-fronted rock band ceiling," Mercedes admits. "We wanted to reach beyond that constraint and see where it would take us."
Phoenix, who taught herself synth programming during the Synesthesia sessions, says that the Juno-nominated trio's songwriting attitude has changed considerably since 2015's Becoming (an album compiled of previous EPs.)
"We lost the ego of wanting to show off," she explains, hearkening back to the days when Courage My Love was first discovered following a 2010 Battle of the Bands in Stratford, Ontario.
"Now, when we write, it's more about the song and what it needs. We try to make songs instead of flashy parts."
Co-produced by David Bendeth (Paramore, Of Mice and Men, Papa Roach) at New Jersey's House Of Loud and Chris Perry, who also co-manages the band with fellow songwriter and producer Nicole Hughes, - the 11 songs on Synesthesia that were also recorded at Toronto's Noble Street and Pocket Studios don't abandon the six-string frenzy or magnetic charm of the earlier two-million YouTube viewed "Bridges"or "Kerosene," whose video director Emma Higgins was recruited to lens "Stereo."
