The Fur Coats (PDX)

By Mark Lore

This past spring, the Fur Coats returned to Portland after a month-long European tour a tighter-knit group and an even mightier live act. The shadowy R&B six-piece has been riding that momentum through 2017 and recording new material, including the single “Mirror Gazing Pt. 1: We Live.” It’s a slow-building lounge song with an accompanying video that’s a little more sparkly than their previous efforts, but still perfectly captures the Coats’ knack for blending the best of traditional rock and soul with the arty and strange visions of songwriters Chris Karl Hoganson and Betty Downey.