Partner crafts an exuberant strain of indie rock laced with wit and frankness on subjects ranging from sexuality and substances to pop culture references. The Canadian outfit is led by songwriters Josée Caron and Lucy Niles, whose debut full-length, In Search of Lost Time, earned a Polaris Music Prize shortlist upon its 2017 release.
Caron and Niles first crossed paths as students at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, where they collaborated in several campus groups such as the Mouthbreathers, the punk unit Yellowteeth, and the hardcore act Go Get Fucked. Those experiences preceded the 2014 launch of Partner, whose sound drew from '90s punk-pop. The duo issued their initial single, "Hot Knives," in October 2015 and shifted their base to Windsor, Ontario, in early 2016. Their high-energy performances and openly queer outlook drew notice, prompting The Globe and Mail to label them "best new band in Canada" in early 2017.
The band's first album arrived via You've Changed Records in September 2017 and advanced to the ten finalists for the following year's Polaris Music Prize. A 2019 EP titled Saturday the 14th followed on You've Changed and Father/Daughter Records. Mid-2020 brought the placement of their track "Play the Field" as the theme for the comedy series Slo Pitch. Their sophomore album, Never Give Up, surfaced on You've Changed in November 2020 and included numbers such as the music-celebrating "Rock Is My Rock."
