Crown Lands

Politically minded Canadian rock duo Crown Lands aka vocalist and drummer Cody Bowles, and guitarist, bassist, and keyboardist Kevin Comeau formed in 2015 and have released one album and a series of EPs and singles. With Cody Bowles identifying as Mi'kmaq and two-spirit while Kevin Comeau is Jewish, the pair channel their experiences and perspectives into their music, which is a freewheeling stew of prog, psych, and blues rock. Their band name is a reference to the concept of Canadian crown land (government-held land that was largely stolen from First Nations) and the movement to reclaim these Indigenous lands. With each band member having a background in formal musical training or education – Kevin Comeau studied classical music at Western University in London, Ontario, and Cody Bowles studied psychology and music at York University in Toronto – after conceiving Crown Lands in 2015 they dropped their first EP, Mantra, in August 2016. A follow-up arrived in September 2017, Rise Over Run, which included their single about colonialism and the history of residential schools in Canada, "Mountain." The group released an acoustic EP in June 2020, Wayward Flyers, Vol. 1, but went electric again for their full-length self-titled debut album, which was produced by Dave Cobb. In 2021, they won the Juno Award for Breakthrough Group of the Year while Crown Lands was also nominated for Rock Album of the Year. A new EP, White Buffalo, was released in September 2021, with the title track being described by the pair as the third in a trilogy of songs about indigenous rights, including "Mountain" and "End of the Road." After releasing the ambient diptych Ritual I and Ritual II in 2025, the band returned to its progressive and psychedelic style with the album Apocalypse (2026), closed with a 19-minute title track.