Spencer Krug’s Latest Album Unpacks the Mysteries and Mundanity of Songwriting

Photo credit: Simon Liem

There is simply no other songwriter like Spencer Krug.

Over his storied 25 year career—a tenure that has included numerous different projects, most notably Wolf Parade and Sunset Rubdown—the Canadian musician has evoked a uniquely distinct landscape of characters, stories and narratives. 

Whether referencing fantastical phantoms, dangerous monsters and mythical tales, or analyzing personal doubts and aspirations, the cerebral singer and keyboardist has managed to deliver his messages in a way unmatched by any peer. He is brainy, clever and inventive, but not high-minded to sprinkle in the occasional curse word or get uncomfortably real in his vivid descriptions.

Being one of the most gifted lyricists of his generation only makes it natural that he’s now devoted an album to the craft of songwriting—a meta, self-referential examination that picks apart and dissects his various approaches to the art of making music. With his latest release, “Same Fangs,” Krug has reaffirmed his place among the pantheon of legitimate indie rock geniuses while documenting the creative process in his own wonderfully inscrutable manner.

“I’m usually the first to be like—don’t write songs about songwriting,” said Krug. “But I cut myself a little slack in that department for this album. A lot of what is going on in my head right now is me questioning what it's like to write songs at this stage of life. I’m a 49-year-old who lives in Canada with his wife and kid in a house. I would feel like a bit of a poseur if I was writing songs filled with rage. These are more like journal entries of day-to-day life, and one thing I think about a lot in my daily life is writing songs.”

“Same Fangs” is a dizzying, byzantine work, with songs referencing other songs that weren’t written or were partially written or were abandoned altogether. The tone for the album is established from the onset, with the first track, “Get to Live,” including snippets of voice memos Krug sent to himself, offering a glimpse into how he crafts and shapes his inventions.

“It was very intentional starting the album off with that song,” said Krug. “I mean, this album gets pretty meta, right? It kind of nods to itself and there’s plenty of other songs on this record and it breaks the fourth wall. So, I wanted to start right off the bat with me working through that process—to acknowledge the self-referential nature of the album.”

The lead single off the album, “Timebomb,” follows in that same vein. Featuring a heavily-distorted piano—a cool new wrinkle for Krug—the song tracks Krug’s attempt to write a song called “Listening to Music in Cars,” which, he notes, was abandoned in favor of “Timebomb.” 

The self-referencing reaches its apex with “Listening to Music in Cars 2.5 (All The Tired Horses),” which not only chronicles “Timebomb” and the earlier version of “Listening to Music…” but also references Sunset Rubdown tours and songs and talks about incorporating the Bob Dylan classic into the track as it plays (catch all that?)

“That original song—'Listening to Music in Cars’—does still exist, it’s just bad,” said Krug. “These songs are really just another way to explore the kind of absurd nature of being a middle-aged person working in this industry. They’re about the complicated nature of being in a band, and how tours can go south and how those experiences become part of the songs.”

Always a prolific songwriter, Krug has been regularly sharing songs with his Patreon followers for the past several years, and “Same Fangs” is an assemblage of tracks he wrote mostly in 2024 and 2025. Even though the songs weren’t created for a specific album in mind, there is a clear narrative throughout, adding an obvious cohesiveness to the record. 

While it could be easy to dismiss an album with so many insidery allusions, Krug is sonically incapable of making a dull record. Buoyed by elaborate piano pieces, the album also features string flourishes, inventive sonic arrangements, and flowery vocal duets with the Canadian artist Elbow Kiss. And Krug’s voice—while not quite as animated and yelpy as in past efforts—is still a wholly one-of-a-kind instrument. It’s a reminder that Krug has never hewed to convention—while some songs in his back catalog have the forcefulness and immediacy of great pop tracks, accessibility has never been a top priority of his.

That’s all the more apt to consider, given the current newfound attention paid to Krug and Wolf Parade. The past year has been fairly seismic for the indie rock legends, with “I’ll Believe in Anything” turning into a viral hit, thanks to its prominent placement in the uber-popular Netflix series, “Heated Rivalry.” 

Now back in the zeitgeist, Wolf Parade—and Krug—are seeing a deservedly renewed interest. Initially, Krug said that there was a little noticeable difference for himself, outside of online chat, but now both he and Wolf Parade are getting more and more offers to play live shows, Unfortunately, due to some issues with the band’s work Visas, they won’t be going on any significant US jaunts until next year (Wolf Parade has only one scheduled American show—this November in Seattle.)

For longtime fans, the widespread adoration of “I’ll Believe in Anything”—a legitimate contender for best song of all time—was long overdue and much appreciated. Krug could have made a career out of replicating that titanic anthem, but he’s never seemed too interested in going down the same trodden path he’s explored before. From Sunset Rubdown to Moonface to Swan Lake to his solo material, Krug’s work has been defined by fearlessness and intense interest in exploring new territories and pushing boundaries ever further.

Which, again, makes him the ideal candidate to write an album about writing. “Same Fangs” is a testament to the artists and musicians who are averse to compromise and conformity. It’s also a paean to those who realize that the craftsmanship or art will always be a continual work in progress.

“I’ll admit that lyrics get harder to write, the songs don’t come to me as easily as they used to,” said Krug. “I still feel pretty blessed that I manage somehow to do this for a living. I care about the things I sing about it—I have to be sincere with myself—and I think I still have things to say.” 

A digital version of “Same Fangs” is available for purchase on Bandcamp here.

To become a Spencer Krug Patreon member, visit here.