From ‘Ocean Blue’ to ‘My Prairie Home’

Musician Rae Spoon gets around

This is the year of Rae Spoon. The Alberta-born singer/songwriter has been busy and has been gaining wider public attention — and not only in their music career (Spoon prefers the gender-neutral pronoun “they”).

In 2012, the release of Spoon’s seventh album, I Can’t Keep All Of Our Secrets, followed by a collection of autobiographical short stories, First Spring Grass Fire (nominated for a Lambda Literary Award), was only the start of this wider recognition. They also toured all over the continent with writer/performer Ivan Coyote with their music-infused two-parter reading series, Gender Failure. Now, Spoon is on the cover of NOW magazine, with Spoon speaking about their new album and a documentary about their childhood home, both titled My Prairie Home.

Their seductive Death in Venice–inspired music video for “Ocean Blue” was a major highlight from I Can’t Keep All Of Our Secrets, and one of my most listened-to songs of 2012, so I’m looking forward to the year of Rae Spoon ahead!

Michael Lyons is a queer-identified, chaotic neutral writer, activist, misanthrope, sapiosexual, and feline enthusiast. He is a columnist, blogger and regular contributor with Xtra and has contributed to Plenitude Magazine, KAPSULA Magazine, Crew Magazine, Memory Insufficient e-zine, The Ryersonian, Buddies Theatre blog, Toronto Is Awesome blog and Fab Magazine and more.

Read More About:
Culture, Music, Vancouver, Canada, Arts, Toronto, Ottawa

Keep Reading

A yellow background with side-by-side images of the cover of the novel Hot Girls with Balls and author Benedict Nguyễn. Nguyễn has long dark hair and wears neon; the book cover has green and white text on a lilac background, two volleyballs and a net.

‘Hot Girls with Balls’ is deliciously, painfully online

Benedict Nguyễn’s debut novel is both tender and ruthless about the frictions of being internet famous
A turquoise background with three images side-by-side: Trauma Plot; Sorry, Baby; and John Proctor is the Villain covers/promotional images.

What does an assault story look like in 2025?

 “Sorry, Baby,” “John Proctor Is the Villain” and “Trauma Plot” are changing the narrative about rape stories by reflecting how it hasn’t changed
Google marching in the Toronto Pride parade in 2024. A crowd holds rainbow umbrellas and fans, a Google banner and a placard with a Google logo

Trump’s attack on DEI isn’t Pride Toronto’s only major problem

ANALYSIS: One of Canada’s largest Prides has scrambled to cover sponsor losses, and some wonder if that was inevitable
Black & white photos of JoJo Siwa and Fletcher on a two-toned pink background

Where did Fletcher and JoJo Siwa go wrong?

The Sapphic stars “came out” as dating men—and rebranded accordingly