Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy’s sophomore album, He Poos Clouds, is one of the most current examples of the exceptional indie music Canada has produced over the last few years. In fact, the album just took home the Canadian Polaris Music Prize; a $20,000 prize awarded solely for artistic merit of a full-length album. With Orchestral melodies that are fit for Broadway or the Bowery Ballroom, this album can’t be classified by one feeling. Yet, between the muted shouts on the single track “Many Lives 49 MP,” or the string arrangements that signal a longing for love on the title track “He Poos Clouds,” the album comes together and truly flows as a musically-enchanted whole. Although one would imagine Final Fantasy to be composed of a nicely sized orchestra, it is merely the solo project of Owen Pallett, string arranger for such bands as the Arcade Fire and the Hidden Cameras. As a solo artist, Pallet’s arrangements have only become more captivating when paired with his potentially suicidal, yet artistically dynamic lyrics.