Vancouver alt-rock duo Dear Rouge have released Spirit, their third full-length album. Spirit is a call to live a freer, more courageous life. It’s a battle cry, and the cover art reflects the traces of the fight on lead singer Danielle McTaggart’s face. Spirit is an inspiration to its listeners to be bold and brave; to foster, to create, to encourage and to celebrate ourselves and others.

They plead outwardly for the energy to continue onward and upwards on new single “Gimme Spirit.” This is an especially important plea given that the song title is the defining essence of both the band and of Danielle herself.

Listen to “Gimme Spirit”: https://dear-rouge.bandcamp.com/track/gimme-spirit

“We wrote this song in a time of uncertainty and fear of the future. The lyric that stuck

was “take me back to why we started in the first place”. We felt this sense that if we could remember the whole reason and core desire to make this record, then the heart and passion would just come. We just knew it was special; this song brings us hope, and ended up being the title track for the album.”

The band recorded Spirit secluded away from busy cityscapes. Drew and Danielle took up residence in a lakeside cabin shortly after the release of PHASES, their sophomore record. The duo found themselves spending their days alone together, and Spirit began to take form over the winter months. “This album is a capsule of the space we’ve been in over the past few years.” Danielle shared, “Our hearts are in this album more than any other. It’s intimidating to release an album so personal to us but so worth it. Life is meant to be shared and we get to do it through our music. It’s such a huge honour we don’t take for granted. We hope this album brings others the same sense of healing and hope as it does for us.”.