The number seven has long been associated with good luck and magical forces. But in the case of singer-songwriter Monique Barry, there’s a great deal more to both that particular number and her musical output than just fortune’s favour and a bit of enchantment. Her latest song, “Coyote,” is the seventh single in a series of innovative and highly individual releases that will add up to a finished album titled HAAK. And as the song climbs through its narrative peaks and varying stylistic passages it very quickly becomes apparent that “Coyote” is the result of vision and skill rather than mere luck, and the magic here can be found in Monique’s creative focus and the inspiration she draws from the natural world and our interaction with it.

Never one to resort to the expected, Monique has always been quick to discover her creative influences and thematic material in a variety of contrasting sources. Her new single began to take form when it was reported that a coyote had been seen in Toronto in her own neighborhood, leading to a set of lyrics addressing the troubling dynamic of mutual invasion: namely, the animal’s encroachment on urban settings which has been brought about by man’s destruction of wildlife habitats. Both confrontation and avoidance are part of the conflicting forces that Monique explores here as she depicts the response of urban humanity to the presence of the canine outsider. Rather than confront the significance of the animal’s presence, the action taken by the local citizens is to record the novelty of the coyote’s image on cell phones—capturing the animal, in a sense, in a secondary new and artificial environment. Further to this, “Coyote” also comments on how we confuse the meaning and impact of what’s being stored on our electronic devices. In this collision between man and beast, entrapment claims both the intruder (who is forced to live in an alien surrounding not suited to it) and the human inhabitants (who can’t interact with the animal and must monitor its activities from a distance within the safety of indoors).

Driving Monique’s latest single is a rich electroacoustic mix of guitarwork that artfully writhes and ripples as it floats through the song; crisp, cracking percussion; soaring keyboards; and a musical atmosphere that carries the lyrics into a very private but beckoning environment all its own. Joining Monique on “Coyote” are some of her most trusted and vibrant collaborators: Kevin Lacroix on electric guitar; Alisdair Jones on bass guitar and synth bass; Michael Wojewoda on drums and vocals; and Emma Campbell, also on vocals. As well as giving us the lead voicework, Monique also plays Native Instruments Noire piano with particle engine.