Swedish-born Sarah MacDougall finds herself among a host of expressive folky songsmiths now emanating from Canada and, on this impressive new album, more than holding her own in illustrious company. The Greatest Ones Alive certainly signs off on MacDougall’s opening statement of raison d’etre: “I put my life inside a song / I believe like believers believe / In the song, in the song, in the song”. If you’re looking for sincere, lo-fi and ever so slightly offbeat folk-inflected charm, this delivers with some to spare.

The wild climate of MacDougall’s second homeland is manifest and metaphor in this music, with songs like ‘It’s a Storm! (What’s Going On?)’ most obviously imbued. It helps that her voice sounds like autumn-on-the-turn, its warmth more fire-in-the-grate than late summer sun and its intensity tinged with breeze and bite. The reason for this – and also the thing I like most about the record – is the amazing sense of space that billows, flourishing around the simple strength of the core constructed threads. Nothing is burdened by ponderous despondency and even the saddest songs extend from their melancholic tract towards high if heavy skies.

That unusual voice demands attention from the outset, if only to appraise whether it works for you. I’m a fan by track three or four and while the timbre may be an acquired taste, it is fun to detect the intermingled Nordic and North American influences. Some voices seem to soak up all atmospheres and (nearly) every song on The Greatest Ones Alive is an infusion of emotion and past experience. Imagining this sound after another lifetime of living is fairly thrilling.

MacDougall’s talent is well served on the more upbeat cuts and although some of the slower numbers start to linger, she achieves equal intimacy in the arching, fully band-backed stand-outs (like the title track) as in the tranquilly simple. MacDougall likes to be her own backing singer and the double-tracked vocals work their way under the skin on ‘It’s My Place! (And I Want It!)’ and help to achieve unexpected depth for the simple structure and instrumentation. The same sense of space buoys a six-and-a-half minute song with delicious backing vocals (this time from Po’Girl girl Awna Teixeira), various strummed strands and soft, high piano: ‘Cold Night’, dulcet but neither dull nor indulgent, would be the centrepiece were it not the penultimate track. This status is reflected by the inclusion of a detached intro to the song – a slow, short string excerpt – that is nothing but a tee. The album’s closer, ‘We’re All Gonna Blow Away’, is an appropriately gentle tail to the main affair, resplendent with delectable harmonium tagging along.

It’s doubtless easy to find this all somewhat unspectacularly pleasant and it’s not necessarily heading for heavy rotation but The Greatest Ones Alive is an album of constant returns, in terms of getting back what you put in. It’s a dependably gratifying listen, albeit not perfect – sometimes the themes and images lack freshness (though the lyrics scan poetically enough for it not to matter too much), while the satisfied ‘Mmm’ is an original take on a “your love completes me” motif, but, to uncharitable ears, rather ripe for parody. Sarah MacDougall’s songwriting and resonance repay any investment required and there are even flashes of Jenny Lewis, circa Rabbit Fur Coat, in ‘Song #43′, which would be a brilliant thing if such a comparison could be endured. It can’t quite but, nevertheless, there’s a lot that is ever so well worth hearing here.