There are times when music invokes certain images so strongly that it can’t help but become defined by them. Sonically, Toronto’s Forest City Lovers could be just as much described in terms of their delicate folk-pop as they could by moonlight woodland, bubbling creeks and lush fields. There’s an earthy tone that flows throughout the elegant strings, wistful pianos and bittersweet nostalgia, entwining their sound with nature itself.

Once a one-woman project, singer/songwriter Kat Burns enlisted in the service of a full band after the release of her debut album The Sun and the Wind, released under the FCL moniker. The result, 2008’s Haunting Moon Sinking, was a quiet, cautious and often mournful record to say the least. Burns made no bones about attributing its doleful temperament to it being a break-up album.

Carriage on the other hand, twinkles in comparison. Obviously ready to move on from previous upsets, Burns stated of the album, “Content-wise, I really wanted it to be more upbeat and poppy, but not a complete departure.” It’s an apt description, staying close to tried and tested blueprints while branching out with more vibrant song writing – after all, there was nothing quite so upbeat as “Light You Up” or ‘”Minneapolis” on its predecessor.  

Opening with melancholic keys, “Phodilus & Tyto” sees Burns intoning “Just say the word, and I can be gone in an hour.” However, like a flower blossoming, it quickly leads into bouncy, flickering guitars coupled with gorgeous harmonies, segueing into “Tell Me Cancer”, that bursts in a swath of ooohs and aaahs.

There is a downside to producing consistently pretty material though, and if the band had been accused of being ‘twee’ before, the likes of “If I Were A Tree’” isn’t going to strengthen an argument that says otherwise. But in their defence, when FCL aim for cute, they don’t half go the whole hog and end up with downright charming. Take the aforementioned track. Sure all of its lyrics are plays on tree imagery, dead leaves, branches, knots and such, but it’s done with an innocence (well save for the cheeky line “If I were a tree, I’d give you wood”) that’s never once cringeworthy.  But for all its earnestness, it’s actually one of the album’s loveliest tracks that sees Burns crooning softly, “Uproot me from the ground and plant me somewhere I belong, in the winter when my limbs are so bare.” Surely only a heart of stone could be unaffected by it.  

From her days as a solo artist, it’s always been clear that Burn’s knew FCL’s strength was in her willowy voice. Certainly her songs are written to reflect that, coupling it with often sparse, understated instrumentation to ensure that she remains at the fore. This whimsical vocal style has been popping up in all four corners of female-fronted indie-folk for some time; not least from the likes of Alessi’s Ark, Emily Haines, Feist and Laura Veirs. And it wouldn’t be wrong to say that any of the tracks on UK youthful singer Alessi’s debut Notes From the Treehouse, could be transplanted onto Carriage and vice versa – the path of quirky folk has been well trodden. But still, Burns’ intimate vocals remain the magic ingredient that makes Future City Lovers so special.

Review Score: 8/10