KASHKA

Some album titles describe what to listen for. This one suggests what to feel. Toronto-based KASHKA’s new album “Relax” delivers that feeling, but not like what you hear in a health spa or an office-tower elevator.

“Relax” is driven by a blend of modern synths and old-fashioned strings. Right away on “New Moon Blues,” you notice how well they play together. The synths aren’t confined to a drone, and strings don’t hog the melody. Percussion, sparingly used, gives each song just enough forward motion.

There is a genuine story arc to this album. The vast, dream-like quality of the first few songs rise toward busier arrangements like “Signs” and “Holding Steady.” The last two tracks bring us back down with added intimacy. “New Moon Blues” (track 2) asked far-out questions like, “Where do we go, oh when we die?/Do we become all of the black in the night sky?” In contrast, the final track “Reset” imagines closer human relationships: “If we all strip it back, find out what we’re missing/We can all reconnect, remember how it used to be.”

One of this album’s strongest features is its subtle variations. KASHKA doesn’t get stuck with one synth tone or rhythm. There are similarities between tracks, but you can always pick out something new in the texture. This makes repeated listens enjoyable.

If you’re feeling tense, a dose of KASHKA’s self-described “folkpoptronica” sound might be just what you need. - Ride The Tempo

Kashka is the project name of Toronto’s Kat Burns who recently released synthpop EP Relax. Standout tracks include the burbling, glittery “Holding Steady”; funky, chiming “Wild Things”; and trippy yet sobering “Reset/Outro” propelled by eerie synths and backed by grieving strings. As its title suggests, this is music to relax to with unprocessed, crystal clear vocals, haunting electronica, and superb songwriting. Kashka’s Relax is among the best synthpop works of the year. Fans of the genre can’t afford to miss out on this one. - Canadian Music

Relax. Such a loaded word. When it’s directed at you as an imperative, relaxing is usually the last thing you want to do. When you find yourself bombarded by pressures and stresses pushing you to the breaking point, repeating “Relax,” to yourself as a mantra is usually a counter-intuitive exercise in futility.

Relax is the name of KASHKA’s new album, but by her own admission, that’s not an apt description of Kat Burns’ recent activities. Since the end of her former band, Forest City Lovers, Burns has immersed herself in KASHKA’s synth-based songwriting style. Two previous full-length albums, a handful of singles, contributing not one but two covers to a compilation series, establishing a vibrant and active online video channel, and touring “living rooms and backyards” leaves no time for relaxation. Oh, and she’s also had a hand in opening a craft brewery. So yeah, slacking off is not an option in Kat Burns’ world.

In hindsight, this flurry of activity may have been Burns’ subconscious effort to mask internal struggles and conflicts from the outside world. In a statement about the record, Burns acknowledges that Relax comes out of “…two years of writer’s block, travel, heaviness, frustration, and a lot of figuring out who I am, as a woman in this industry.” In other words, it’s the product of being human.

It’s that raw and vulnerable humanity that makes Relax such a compelling and engaging musical statement. Amidst the structured and sterile sounds of synths and 808 beats, emerges an intensely human voice. Burns exhibits both strength and fragility on “Float Away” and “Holding Steady”, making the balancing of both extremes seem effortless and commonplace. “If I could count up all the hours that I’ve spent / lost in worry, apprehension or regret,” she sings on the latter, “It would become so clear that we’ve learned to fear / the line of what was said and what was really meant.” Relax feels like a breakthrough for Burns, personally and professionally. It’s as close to the folky, introspective roots laid down by Forest City Lovers as KASHKA’s ever come. The beautiful symmetry between Kat Burns’ past and present on Relax suggests there will be little time for relaxation in KASHKA’s future. - Dominionated

The third album of Kat Burns’ KASHKA project, RELAX is an experimental record that marries orchestral folk with electro-pop to form something that has a foot in both urban life and the wide wilderness. Engineered at the aptly named Wildlife Sanctuary Sound in Grey County, Ontario, the album feels aware not only of the Canadian landscape but also its heritage too. The songs are rooted in history and memories so as to possess a timeless quality, as though the sensations and emotions conveyed have been being experienced for millennia on that very same land.

‘Float Away’ is a great example of this, the modern synths and traditional strings creating a rich, human track stripped of references to times or dates, instead favouring a universal simplicity that carries calm and comfort within its mighty grasp.

Thematically, RELAX explores isolation and connection in various forms. Not only focused on a simple personal level, the record also considers wider feminist, cultural and racial aspects too, opening with expansive questions and slowly honing in to smaller concerns. “Where do we go / oh when we die?” Burns asks on ‘New Moon Blues’. “Do we become / all of the black in the night sky?” Tracks such as ‘Signs’ and ‘Holding Steady’ are more upbeat in terms of arrangement, more fierce in terms of lyrics. Both tracks feel rooted in personal and social justice, the former talking of breaking cycles and watching the fall of walls and silences, the latter a call to arms for the beaten down, a signal of strength and determination.

‘Wild Things’ feels like a renunciation of the complicated trappings of modern life, positing a return to some previous simplicity where today’s barriers and challenges are not yet formed, and closer ‘Reset’ takes this a step further. As the title suggests, the track proposes a fresh start, boiling down our existence to the basest elements as a way to reconnect to real life and the people around us, as though in recognising we are all skin and blood and bone, we might realise our common existence.

RELAX feels like Burns working through the issues of contemporary Canadian life, how we live positively and responsibly, challenging the privilege of others while questioning our own in the hope of healing history and creating a more just and harmonious future. The album is available now from the KASHKA Bandcamp page in a variety of formats, including a special edition that comes with a hand-sewn zine full of lyrics, drawings and photos, complete with risograph printed cover. - Various Small Flames

There’s a certain amount of confidence one can discern from the third album by KASHKA, the pop project of Toronto’s Kat Burns. Burns is looking confidently away from the camera and has the poise of a superhero who’s just saved the day. And hell, she even has a dog with her.

Perhaps the cover is a reflection of how confident she’s gotten with this project, too. RELAX is perhaps the strongest of her three albums so far—the songs never go too long and there’s no sense of musical excess. On this album, Burns collaborates with Lisa Conway (L CON, Del Bel) and Andrew Collins (Skeletones Four, AMC Gremlin), and the musical sensibilities of the three combined make this oh so satisfying.

RELAX is an imperative telling you to take it easy, but in aggressive uppercase letters, and the album’s content also deals with this juxtaposition. In songs like “New Moon Blues” and “Float Away,” Burns sings of “bodies of light, bellows of sound” and “bodies warm and laid out in the sand, soaking up all the light we can,” respectively. But in “Reset/Outro,” she’s grappling with our new, wired reality.

Besides Conway and Collins, she has a number of excellent musicians contributing at least a little, from Lisa Bozekovic’s vocals in “New Moon Blues” to a string section featuring Mika Posen to James Bunton on keys. The many moving parts make each song a pristine little island on its own.

There are eight songs on the album, two of which are instrumental, but the album still feels complete. The two instrumentals, “I Can’t Relax” and “Look Up,” both seem to draw spiritual energy, with lots of vocalizations and hums over soaring synths, and help to divide the album into two parts. In the first half we have the aforementioned “New Moon Blues,” which unfolds slowly and builds up a beautiful string section. “Float Away” begins with a spare drum beat, gradually picking up power as Burns reminisces about a place frequented by both her parents.

“Signs” is a highlight of the album, one with a bassy synth-based beat that definitely bears from influence from Lisa Conway. While Burns sings “Break the darkness, let in the light,” it’s clear that goodness is not where this song is heading: “Cause every time we think we’ve got it all worked out, something comes along and turns it on its insides.”

On the flip side, “Holding Steady” has a very catchy chorus and perhaps the most optimistic song on the album, one of adapting and moving forward. “Wild Things” is full of twinkling synths, and “Reset/Outro” goes from worried to optimistic. Burns vocals are paired with warped ones at first, despairing about what our technological age has done to human interaction, but eventually Burns suggest a simple-sounding solution: find out what we’re missing, and we all might be able to “reconnect,” figuratively.

Relax. KASHKA commands it. - Gray Owl Point

Kashka: Bound
Play the Triangle
BY: ANUPA MISTRY
GRID RATING: 7/10
Bound is Kat Burns’s second effort with her solo synth-pop project KASHKA, after 2012’s well-received Vichada, and continues her experimentation with the multi-genre amalgam she’s dubbed “folkpoptronica.” Bold piano and guitar melodies twist and combine with drum and synth presets; the overall effect is mellifluous and warm, if not particularly innovative. Burns’s best asset is her voice, which is warm and precise. She’s prone to introspective, pastoral lyrics and creates engaging tunes from stories about romantic and familial relationships. On “Body Like Lead,” her tone vacillates between sunny and smoky as she sings the chorus, “I thought you’d found a way but you’re gone when I need you here, now.” This isn’t the monosyllabic, major-key pop of commercial radio, but something more subdued, folksy, and interesting. On “Gibraltar,” a short, simple ballad that swells with strings and a ghostly chorus, a wandering harmony line floats into the mix like a seagull sailing on a shoreline breeze. A pile of synths wail and careen through “Bloodlines,” ending Bound on a tense note. Nevertheless, “pleasant” would be the best way to describe KASHKA’s second album. It’s a collection of cheery and pseudo-brooding songs, emphasized by smart and imaginative songwriting. But for all its supposed electronic undertones, it doesn’t veer too far from conventional synth-pop.
Playlist picks: “Prophet,” “Body Like Lead,” “Bloodlines” - The Grid

Fans disappointed by the disbanding of Toronto folk-pop stalwarts Forest City Lovers last Spring didn’t have long to mourn; frontwoman Kat Burns stepped out of one project and straight into another, assuming a new identity as Kashka and coining the term “folkpoptronica” in describing her debut album Vichada, released mere weeks later. It was a decidedly synthetic and dance-friendly offering, transporting Burns’ warm vocals and songwriting strengths into a sleekly futuristic landscape like a musical version of Tron.
Her second album Bound, released earlier this month, continues to spend quality time immersed in 0s and 1s with a more overt New Wave flavour, but also returns to its forest and city roots in incorporating more organic instrumentation into the mix. But the semantics of genre are secondary to the fact that the evolution of Burns’ pop instincts over the course of three Forest City Lovers album and the Kashka debut continues unabated here. The likes of “Never Had It” and “Lamplight” boast some of the finest melodies Burns has written to date, and their buoyancy coexists with the shadowy, introspective numbers she’s always been strong at. It’s far too early in her career to declare a record a summation of all that’s come before… but Bound rather is. It sparkles and smoulders and is a strong reminder that, whatever name she trades under, Burns is one of this city’s brightest talents. - Chromewaves.net

By Melody Lau
7/10

Kat Burns' self-described title of "folkpoptronica" regarding her post-Forest City Lovers solo project Kashka may lead us to believe that the once front-woman of one of Toronto's now-defunct folk favourites have suddenly submerged herself in a pool of synths, but that's not necessarily the case. On her debut full length, Bound, Burns merely flirts with the use of electronics and utilizes them in moderation as to not give us too much of a shock.

What we end up with are a number of songs that remind us of Burns' ability to craft sweet and simple pop melodies with her featherweight vocals while transitioning into something modern with a new set of tools. Lead single "Never Had It" and the guitar-led "Maybe It's Time" are very indicative of her folk-pop past; the latter's use of orchestral and percussion elements practically feel like a lost Forest City Lovers track. But her progressive moves are just as infectious, and definitely embrace a groovier dance backbone, such as on the beat-heavy "Prophet" and "Cursed Wind." Kashka ultimately bares Burns' signature dream-like signature, though; one that we're glad has not vanished from the Canadian music scene, whether folk, pop or electronic.
(Play the Triangle) - Exclaim Magazine

She calls it folkpoptronica, but the music Kat Burns has been making as KASHKA lately is 100% pure pop not from concentrate. There is nothing watered down about Bound, Burns’ second “solo” release under the KASHKA name.
She is a model of efficiency, packing 11 songs in under 40 minutes, but instead of the lissome treatment the tracks on last year’s Vichada got, Bound‘s songs are brimming with lush instrumentation. The bass is succulent enough to bite into, the synths warm to the touch, and Burns’ voice has never sounded more tender, sweet, and out and out sexy. “Body Like Lead” is a sensual tease of a song, definitely an unexpected pleasure at the album’s middle third, as is “Lamplight”, a synth-pop anthem that effortlessly builds to a thunderous, play-it-again crescendo.
Burns hasn’t completely left her indie folk roots in the past, as evidenced by the gentle sway and more traditional arrangement of “Gibraltar” and closer “Maybe It’s Time”, but it pales comparison to the more muscular, groove-based tracks on Bound. Maybe at some point in the future, Burns can explore crossing these two distinct sides of her musical personality the way Goldfrapp did on Seventh Tree, but right now, her strong suit seems to be pulsating, ready-for-the-club songs like “We Let the Shadow In”. - Quick Before It Melts

I was originally planning to do another Pop Explosion 2013 preview post today, but I liked this new KASHKA song too much to bury it in amongst 45 other soundcloud songs. KASHKA is the solo moniker of former Forest City Lovers-er Kat Burns, and Never Had It will be featured on her sophomore solo record Bound, which will be available on Nov. 5th.

I say solo, yet Kat has wisely, and no doubt organically, worked with a who’s who of the Toronto indie scene to make this new record. It’s produced by Leon Taheny (Rituals, Dusted) and features contributions from members of Bruce Peninsula, Bernice, the Bicycles, Ohbijou and Tokyo Police Club. Burns’ voice is still the star on Never Had It though; confident & compelling, but yet still understated, she seems perfectly at home over a background of sounds that seem to blend modern folk elements with retro electronic sounds. It’s great stuff, and you can see & hear Kat live during HPX on Friday, Oct. 25th at the Seahorse. - Hero Hill

We’ve always been huge fans of Kashka here at Silent Shout, but I don’t think any of us were prepared for the magnificence of this new single. “Never Had It” is soaring synthpop perfection. Her new album Bound comes out November 5 and if this first song is any indication our heads just might explode when we hear it. She’s going on tour in Ontario and Quebec in October and November, her live set is fantastic, so check the concert calendar and make your plans! - Silent Shout

KASHKA has unbound the first single her upcoming album, Bound, available November 5, 2013. The real person behind the band is Kat Burns (Forest City Lovers) and she’s joined by a wicked coven of conspirators, including members of Bruce Peninsula, Bernice, the Bicycles, Ohbijou and Tokyo Police Club.
After the demise of Forest City Lovers, Burns set her sights on experimenting and exploring new sounds, songwiriting styles, eventually collaborating with James Bunton on what would come to be known as Vichada. The follow-up is produced by Leon Taheny (Rituals, Dusted) and further explores the folkpotronica sound of its predecessor, with the influence of a side trip to Poland to retrace Burns’ roots thrown into the mix. - Quick Before it Melts

Kat Burns pulls a Sasha Fierce with her new project, KASHKA, which sees the pretty-voiced singer/guitarist best known for her Forest City Lovers orchestral folk project go electro-pop in this exciting new duo with in-demand local producer/percussionist James Bunton (Ohbijou, Light Fires, Friends in Bellwoods, Evening Hymns, Diamond Rings).
Burns doesn’t change up her singing style all that much – her voice remains high and airy, and her delivery gentle and intimate – but teamed up with Bunton’s muscular beats and percussion, dynamic synth lines and smartly constructed arrangements, the result is completely fresh (and fierce).
Rather than urgent dance-floor bangers, the 10 upbeat tunes are mid-tempo and alluring, Burns’s pop melodies and thoughtful lyrics drawing us in just as they did in her now-defunct folk band. Bunton’s own vocals add a bassier counterpoint in standout track No Way Around It, which also includes the album’s sole rap verse, by Toronto’s Kit Knows. - NOW Toronto

What once was a side project for Toronto’s Kat Burns, KASHKA is now the musician’s full-time outlet for musical expression. Ms. Burns is known for her work with her previous folk-pop band, Forest City Lovers: a project that truly made any dark moment lighter and brighter through flirtatious, charming, upbeat melodies. KASHKA, on the other hand, is like Forest City Lovers’ European cousin–it is electronic, full of beats from fellow artist James Bunton (Ohbijou, Light Fires), and much deeper in sound. On KASHKA’s debut album Vichada released this past July, listeners can hear Burns’ new direction. The transition is smooth; the songs flatter Burns’ flexible vocal range and creative songwriting. - The Bomber Jacket

What once was a side project for Toronto’s Kat Burns, KASHKA is now the musician’s full-time outlet for musical expression. Ms. Burns is known for her work with her previous folk-pop band, Forest City Lovers: a project that truly made any dark moment lighter and brighter through flirtatious, charming, upbeat melodies. KASHKA, on the other hand, is like Forest City Lovers’ European cousin–it is electronic, full of beats from fellow artist James Bunton (Ohbijou, Light Fires), and much deeper in sound. On KASHKA’s debut album Vichada released this past July, listeners can hear Burns’ new direction. The transition is smooth; the songs flatter Burns’ flexible vocal range and creative songwriting. - The Bomber Jacket

The Out Of This Spark record label family continues to amaze. First Timber Timbre, then Diamond Rings breaks out and now Kat Burns travels down the synth road. Vichada is the debut album which will be available soon as a download and on limited edition purple cassette. Kat has been working with producer James Bunton over this previous winter. The result runs along the lines of the electronic inventiveness of Miracle Fortress and the pop hooks of Destroyer; creating a warmer Kraftwerk vibe like a hippie VW Van on the autobahn. The record includes a timely cover of Leonard Cohen's Everybody Knows. - Durham Region This Week

The Out Of This Spark record label family continues to amaze. First Timber Timbre, then Diamond Rings breaks out and now Kat Burns travels down the synth road. Vichada is the debut album which will be available soon as a download and on limited edition purple cassette. Kat has been working with producer James Bunton over this previous winter. The result runs along the lines of the electronic inventiveness of Miracle Fortress and the pop hooks of Destroyer; creating a warmer Kraftwerk vibe like a hippie VW Van on the autobahn. The record includes a timely cover of Leonard Cohen's Everybody Knows. - Durham Region This Week

You go through phases in life, it’s just a given. Some times an abrupt change signals a transition from one frame of mind to another, other times it’s more subtle. I can look back at the archives of this blog and see the phases I’ve gone through, and in some case, even track changes in artists I’ve written about.
Take Kat Burns, for instance. She first entered my consciousness as the voice behind Toronto’s Forest City Lovers, back when I was deep in a torrid love affair with all things acoustic, folk, and pop. Now that I’ve been finding myself enamoured of clean and sterile synth-based electro pop, Burns and I are crossing paths again, this time in the form of Kashka, her collaboration with Ohbijou percussionist James Bunton. The result of their partnership sees Burns’ storytelling lyrics superbly set to Bunton’s buoyant beats, as evidenced on “This Machine”. Their debut, Vichada, is out now on Burns’ Play the Triangle imprint, and through Bandcamp. In print, this may sound like an unexpected turn for Burns and Bunton, but the music is charmingly organic in nature, and a perfect combination. - Quick Before It Melts

You go through phases in life, it’s just a given. Some times an abrupt change signals a transition from one frame of mind to another, other times it’s more subtle. I can look back at the archives of this blog and see the phases I’ve gone through, and in some case, even track changes in artists I’ve written about.
Take Kat Burns, for instance. She first entered my consciousness as the voice behind Toronto’s Forest City Lovers, back when I was deep in a torrid love affair with all things acoustic, folk, and pop. Now that I’ve been finding myself enamoured of clean and sterile synth-based electro pop, Burns and I are crossing paths again, this time in the form of Kashka, her collaboration with Ohbijou percussionist James Bunton. The result of their partnership sees Burns’ storytelling lyrics superbly set to Bunton’s buoyant beats, as evidenced on “This Machine”. Their debut, Vichada, is out now on Burns’ Play the Triangle imprint, and through Bandcamp. In print, this may sound like an unexpected turn for Burns and Bunton, but the music is charmingly organic in nature, and a perfect combination. - Quick Before It Melts

When Forest City Lovers broke up this spring, frontwoman Kat Burns promised to turn her attention to her solo project Kashka. Sure enough, she will release her debut album, Vichada, on Tuesday (July 17) through her own Play the Triangle imprint.

The album was made in collaboration with producer James Bunton of Ohbijou, who previously worked extensively with Forest City Lovers. A press release promises that the new tunes "fit nicely in the pocket of indie folk softness wrapped in catchy beats and choruses."

With "songs that sound like they could have been dreamt up on the shores of a deserted island then pushed on the dance floor amidst sweaty strangers," this material apparently finds Burns delving into full-blown electro-pop. Burns wrote the songs during a Toronto Island retreat, while Bunton created the beats on the road in Ohbijou's tour van.

Hear the title track and album cut "This Machine" below. You can pre-order a copy digitally or on cassette (with an original drawing) from Bandcamp. - Exclaim Magazine

After breaking the hearts of Forest City Lovers fans by announcing the band’s indefinite hiatus, Forest City Lovers’ lead singer Kat Burns is quickly back at it with a release from her side-project KASHKA. In this fun-loving electronic based collaboration with Ohbijou drummer James Bunton, the duo have released two digital EPs, but Vichada marks their first full-length effort and is a record that will, simply, make you want to host a summer dance party. - GrayOwl Point

When Forest City Lovers broke up this spring, frontwoman Kat Burns promised to turn her attention to her solo project Kashka. Sure enough, she will release her debut album, Vichada, on Tuesday (July 17) through her own Play the Triangle imprint.

The album was made in collaboration with producer James Bunton of Ohbijou, who previously worked extensively with Forest City Lovers. A press release promises that the new tunes "fit nicely in the pocket of indie folk softness wrapped in catchy beats and choruses."

With "songs that sound like they could have been dreamt up on the shores of a deserted island then pushed on the dance floor amidst sweaty strangers," this material apparently finds Burns delving into full-blown electro-pop. Burns wrote the songs during a Toronto Island retreat, while Bunton created the beats on the road in Ohbijou's tour van.

Hear the title track and album cut "This Machine" below. You can pre-order a copy digitally or on cassette (with an original drawing) from Bandcamp. - Exclaim Magazine

After breaking the hearts of Forest City Lovers fans by announcing the band’s indefinite hiatus, Forest City Lovers’ lead singer Kat Burns is quickly back at it with a release from her side-project KASHKA. In this fun-loving electronic based collaboration with Ohbijou drummer James Bunton, the duo have released two digital EPs, but Vichada marks their first full-length effort and is a record that will, simply, make you want to host a summer dance party. - GrayOwl Point

Headliner KASHKA was the highlight of the evening, bringing the show home at the end of the night with a unique change of pace from leader Kat Burns’ previous works. The ex-Forest City Lovers frontwoman injected a refreshing amount of electronics into her set, but just enough to reel in both old and new fans alike. - Summerworks Festival

Headliner KASHKA was the highlight of the evening, bringing the show home at the end of the night with a unique change of pace from leader Kat Burns’ previous works. The ex-Forest City Lovers frontwoman injected a refreshing amount of electronics into her set, but just enough to reel in both old and new fans alike. - Summerworks Festival

The music of KASHKA could be described as futuristic-folk, taking Burns' traditional songwriting formula into another dimension via the liberal use of synthesizers and electronically programmed beats. However, this is not to say that Vichada is an album void of emotion or honesty; Burns' crystal clear voice and confessional lyrics ensure that the songs never alienate the listener, rather illuminating a world of endless possibilities. - Aside/Bside

The music of KASHKA could be described as futuristic-folk, taking Burns' traditional songwriting formula into another dimension via the liberal use of synthesizers and electronically programmed beats. However, this is not to say that Vichada is an album void of emotion or honesty; Burns' crystal clear voice and confessional lyrics ensure that the songs never alienate the listener, rather illuminating a world of endless possibilities. - Aside/Bside

[translated from French]

At first glance, nothing distinguishes this band from Toronto with other talents of the indie-folk of the great America. They appear no more talented or more original than others, but for some reason that escapes, know how to be very attractive. Their compositions take leave in the blink of an eye, minute seconds needed for the magic in good and due form. Rather than limiting their album timbre of their naive and cute lead singer, musicians vary the pleasures, try to play fair sum that each song can have its little treasures sound. The tracklist runs, the notion of minutes dissipates, happiness runs. The boat of Canada is reflected most of the time without running water, under a golden sun or in a black mist, before suffering a few storms threatening an entire crew. The rhythmic changes dramatically boost the album, the atmosphere changes within his interest, and instrumentation, lovely and searched, enveloped in a divine light.

They changed course and the backdrop for each song, turning their music into a permanent adventure, not devoid of charm and freshness. The quintet of comets flew on to conquer the stars, catapulted to the speed of sound through pop melodies evoking both the New Pornographers (Constellation) that the Stars (Minneapolis), two other masters in the field. References are present, which does not reveal the group's personality. Holders of a universe of sound richer and denser than average, Forest City Lovers pass from one subject to another, fables, folk rocked by the shadow and mystery ("Oh The Wolves", "Sea To Land") to angelic choirs ("Tell Me, Cancer), hymns military Lo-Fi (" Keep The Kids Inside ") to pop vertiginous slides (Tyto Phodilus &"), duets nostalgic keyboards crushed by outfielders ( "Pocketful of Rocks") to single enchanting sweeter ("Light You Up," "If I Were A Tree"). The only downside of inspiration ("Believe Me") will not erase the collective feat achieved on 'Carriage'. - Smahut (France)

“There was a capacity crowd jammed shoulder-to-shoulder inside the twinkle-light–spangled Tranzac, but instead of the tension that’s often generated at packed shows, the venue was filled with the sort of engaged, respectful energy that I associate with small towns … a sort of awed hush swept through the audience while Kat Burns led her Forest City Lovers through a beautifully airy collection of rich, textured art-folk.” (Eye Weekly – Top 3 Concerts of 2008- December 2008)
- Eye Weekly

“This wee band from Toronto creates such a delicately simple yet engaging debut with their woven string arrangements, subtle but effective electric guitars and shadowing keys that completely complement Kat Burns’ sweetly soulful vocals. This crew has a very precise direction in their sound and perfect the balance between endearing and enigmatic.” (TV Guide 2008) - TV Guide

“As the field of inventive indie-pop artists has increasingly become as crowded as its mainstream counterpart, it now takes more than just some catchy melodies and teenage-heartbreak-inspired lyrics to stand out from the crowd. With their second full-length album, Haunting Moon Sinking, Toronto's Forest City Lovers have done just that, taking the lessons learned from their debut, The Sun And The Wind, and bringing them to an entirely new sonic level.” (Guelph Mercury September 2008) - Guelph Mercury