Hermit – The Wilderness of Manitoba Hermit – The Wilderness of Manitoba (Free Download / Buy)

Recorded at the band’s shared home studio in Toronto, When You Left the Fire is the epitome of a modern folk album. Striving for themes that incite meaning and force a second listen, The Wilderness of Manitoba (@wildofmanitoba), employs the musicality and creativity of all five of its members to make their sound what it is.

Vocally, the band follows the formula of many others in their genre, incorporating layered harmonies and atmospheric fill to give the songs an ethereal quality. The group’s interplay between male and female voices, though, does a surprisingly good job of distinguishing their sound from many others that rely on this same pattern. They also manage to give the impression of a deep, soulful understanding of the human condition. The combination of lyrical content and strong, unified vocals creates a sense of yearning and submission that set the perfect tone for their instrumentation.

While songs such as “Orono Park” and “In the Family” are beautiful and simplistic with their focus on only guitar or banjo, the variety of sound in “November” makes it my favorite track on the album. Opening with deep piano chords and incorporating pedal steel throughout, the song seems to take up a much larger sonic landscape. These additional flourishes, which also include strings, harmonica, and increased percussion on other tracks, are actually what stand out to me most on the album.

Songs like “White Water”, with it’s layered strings and banjo picking, and “Summer Fires”, with powerful guitar strumming and distinct drumming, are necessary to distinguish this band from others like it. Beautiful guitar or banjo picking will always be beautiful, but what causes a band like this to make a mark are the layers that make each song unique. This is particularly true in the case of a genre that’s currently saturated with similar acts.

Though The Wilderness of Manitoba isn’t necessarily trailblazing their own sound, the small embellishments of their instrumentation and the honestly of their vocals on When You Left the Fire certainly put them at the top of their game. I’ll be seeing them at Music Hall of Williamsburg tonight and honestly can’t wait to watch these harmonies in a live setting. The band is also playing a final show with Cloud Cult tomorrow in D.C. and touring with Rasputina this July.