Courage My Love

Courage My Love

Courage My Love is a Canadian group from Kitchener, Ontario. The band forms in 2009 and is active until 2020. Its core members are twin sisters Mercedes Arn-Horn, who plays guitar and sings, and Phoenix Arn-Horn, who plays drums and sings, alongside bassist Brandon Lockwood. David Blake-Dickson is a former member; he leaves the lineup before Lockwood joins in 2013.

Style and development

The band begins as a pop-punk act and later moves towards a synth-pop sound. This shift is especially evident on Synesthesia, which draws on influences including Metric, Tegan and Sara, and Cocteau Twins. The group is also described as alternative rock.

Early releases and exposure

After forming, Courage My Love gains momentum with a local battle-of-the-bands win in early 2010 and an appearance on the Vans Warped Tour. The band also supports Paramore, Tokyo Police Club, and A Day to Remember on tour.

Their debut EP, For Now, appears in 2011 on their own label, Homeskool Prom. Two singles are issued from it: “Bridges” and “Anchors Make Good Shoes.” A video for “Bridges” receives more than one million views on YouTube. An acoustic version of the EP follows in September 2012.

Later releases

Their second EP, Becoming, is released in 2013, with videos made for “Cold Blooded” and “You Don’t Know How.” In 2014, the band is nominated for Breakthrough Group of the Year at the Juno Awards. After signing with Ohio-based InVogue Records, the label reissues Becoming as a full-length album with 15 tracks in 2015.

Synesthesia follows in 2017, and the band tours Canada, Europe, and the United States in support of it. In 2020, Courage My Love self-releases the seven-track EP Spectra.

Later projects

After work on Spectra, the twin sisters focus on a new project called Softcult.