Whitehorse's new album won't be out until July 7, but we have a sneak peak for you now. The band was recently in the CBC Music studio to record a First Play Live session for Panther in the Dollhouse, and as you would expect from Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland, they brought their passionate vocal interplay and searing guitar riffs. They also brought a full band with them: with John Obercian on drums, Ryan Gavel on bass and Greg MacDonald on keys.
In the past, Doucet and McClelland toured as a duo, using loop pedals to sample their drums and percussive parts as well as some vocals. Those performances are really impressive, as you watch two musicians play all the parts live onstage. But for Panther in the Dollhouse, the two wanted to have a live band play the drums, bass and keys so that they could spend less time on the technical aspects of their music and more time concentrating on their individual parts and song craft. The full band sounds amazing, and the performances are emotionally powerful.
Check out the new songs "Boys Like You" and "Night Hawks" below, as well as older songs "Evangenlina" (never played live before) and "Devil's Got a Gun."
More to explore:
My Playlist: Whitehorse on their personal tastes, from Liz Phair to Howlin’ Wolf