{"id":12470,"date":"2023-05-24T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-24T17:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/?p=12470"},"modified":"2026-05-28T17:04:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T22:04:38","slug":"album-review-cookie-delicious-fox-in-golden-armour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/2023\/05\/24\/album-review-cookie-delicious-fox-in-golden-armour\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review :: Cookie Delicious :: Fox in Golden Armour"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Golden<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

by Mykhailo Vil\u2019yamson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyone who is familiar with the Winnipeg music scene has surely happened upon Joel Klaverkamp\u2019s music over the years. But one could be forgiven for perhaps not knowing his name since his projects since 1989 have been multitudinous. From the teenage hair metal band Breakneck Inferno to the indie-forward cyberpunk project Robojom, to the latest broody dance-rock outfit Cookie Delicious, Klaverkamp is perpetually involved in the process of reinvention. Is he now the armour-clad Reynard first seen on the cover of his 2022 single Forget It<\/em>? And how long before the next iconoclasm? That remains to be seen. In the meantime, Fox in Golden Armour<\/em> provides listeners with nearly 36 minutes of what has been self-described as \u201chypnotic creamsicle,\u201d which aptly describes the swirl of tasty beats, sweet hooks, and biting lyrics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The album grapples with various themes of perspective and powerlessness, love and loss, and soberly dealing with and accepting change. Sight \u2013 i.e. seeing and being seen \u2013 preoccupies the artist and serves as the main thread that runs through each and every song, which is mirrored by the dynamic interplay between Klaverkamp and backing vocalist Domo Lemoine (who appears on every track except the trippy outlier \u201cBite Your Medicine\u201d). Though quite different in style, the dual vocals, stark drums, minimalist guitars, and synth-rootedness of Fox in Golden Armour<\/em> is somewhat reminiscent of the recent rock opera Atum<\/em> by The Smashing Pumpkins; though Cookie Delicious is much closer in alikeness to certain incarnations of LCD Soundsystem or Beck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeeing Further\u201d is the most radiant song on the album \u2013 its drums and bass capture the cadence of summer cruising. But while it might first appear with the playful wah at the start of \u201cCode Words\u201d that a party atmosphere will continue, it quickly becomes clear through layers of instrumentation that a less jovial course has been set. The deeply reflective \u201cFall to Pieces\u201d confirms this movement, with its solitary, reverb-heavy piano chords impelling the listener to stop and drift. Its tone still contemplative, the tempo picks up again in \u201cAnother Time,\u201d which is punchy and highlights all aspects of the band\u2019s lineup. The second half of the album begins with a steady descent into even greater darkness and self-reflection via \u201cInto This Dream,\u201d followed by the enigmatic fever-dream of a track, \u201cBite Your Medicine.\u201d However, when all seems potentially lost existentially, \u201cHelp Me\u201d brings things out of depths with some self-propelled beats, steady bass, and a pensive guitar solo. And it all concludes with the assertively buoyant call to action in \u201cTurn Back.\u201d What should one \u201cannihilate\u201d though (as so urged by the repeated lyric)? I guess what needs destroying in oneself and the observable world is up to the listener to decide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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