As the days get shorter in October, Vancouver-based band Vox Rea promise to brighten them up, when they bring their dreamy and philosophical pop to Sidney’s Mary Winspear Centre.
The quartet performs Oct. 5 as part of the Seaside Sessions, which features emerging Canadian musical acts.
Vox Rea features Kate Kurdyak (lead vocals/piano/guitar/bass), her sister Lauren Kurdyak (vocals/piano), childhood best friend Kaitlyn Hansen-Boucher (vocals/percussion) and Mitchell Schaumberg (vocals/piano/guitar/bass), an alum of the prestigious Berklee School of Music.
Formerly known as The Katherines, the band assumed the more androgynous name after adding Schaumberg, who is described as a boy-genius on the piano.
The members of Vox Rea see themselves supplying a soundtrack to the confusion and euphoria of coming-of-age in a post-modern world. Seeing their music as a celebration of free will and an ode to the paralyzing nature of choice, they cite as influences German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche – perhaps the most famous (and misunderstood) theorist of human agency and critic of prevailing norms – and Arcade Fire.
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The band’s philosophical tone shines through in their motto, “Vox Rea was written for you, this is not a product” in challenging consumerism.
While Vox Rea’s videos and album cover strike a personal, trippy, nostalgic tone (inclusive references to H.P. Lovecraft’s The Dunwich Horror and a picture of a late family member lying on a lounge chair drinking and smoking, wearing nothing more than a Speedo in mid-winter), the musicians wrote two songs that appear to perfectly capture current times.
Dose Up explores the tension between different life stages, while Rest celebrates new beginnings.
Vox Rea hits the stage at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 5. For ticket and other information, visit marywinspear.ca/event/vox-rea.
wolfgang.depner@peninsulanewsreview.com
