Having just completed a tour US tour supporting Sunset Rubdown, Sister Ray is sharing their first new music since 2023, a track called ‘Animal Thing’ that was produced by Jon Nellen (a newly-minted touring member of Big Thief).

Surrendering to primordial instinct is a skill developed over time. On ‘Animal Thing,’ Coyes meditates on realizing the outsized possibilities derived from lingering. Set in the off-hours of Toronto’s beloved 80-year-old Imperial Pub, the liminal space between resisting the urge to leave, and the desire to know someone deeper becomes a conduit. Deciding to stay is far from incidental — it’s the satisfying outcome of a hard-earned journey towards trusting their intuition, and believing that they can design their ideal outcome. Conjuring the searing alternative Americana of Smog and Lucinda Williams, the track rings of an unhurried and spacious resonance; steady guitar lines and amber-toned keys are held together by Coyes’ unmistakable voice, always sprawling and scraping towards a greater emotional precision. A discerning lyrical storyteller, they practice a form of unflinching empathy capable of breaking down generational wounds. In its place, unfurling a bold and stirring articulation of hope.

Coyes says of the track: “’Animal Thing’ starts in The Imperial Pub (Toronto, ON) at 12:15 am on a Tuesday. It’s about that liminal space between wanting to know someone and knowing them, drinking more than you should to talk a little longer, to feel a little stronger, going home alone and building castles in the sky over coffee on the front porch.”