If you have spent any length of time in the heart of a Canadian forest, you will understand that The Deep Dark Woods have a fitting name for their music. Deeply rooted, predictable, majestic, haunting and beautiful, it is somewhat ironic that the quintet call Saskatoon their home given that the modest prairie city is not known for its qvast wooded areas. While Saskatoon is home to a meagre quarter of a million people, TDDW are a common name in the Canadian folk world having won a number of the country’s top folk awards with their last release Winter Hours. The band does not stray in presentation on their fourth studio album, titled The Place I Left Behind. Though the record ventures into darker and moodier territory with introspective themes permeating the storytelling, the tribute to roots music is unwavering. The Place I Left Behind, was recently nominated for a Juno award, and while it shows obvious growth, it shares common ground with its predecessors; it is a record that is easy to listen to, and quite a bit more difficult to appreciate.

TDDW stay true to the country-folk genre throughout the 60 minute affair. Typically, chords are strummed with an unhurried pace as they ride alongside a pedal steel guitar or accompany the organ which serves to contain the minimal arrangements like a vast fence marking the boundaries of an endless farm. At times a banjo will pluck its way to the background or lonely violins will bring a touch more sadness to the already morose feel. The instrumentation is simple and traditional, leaving room for the storytelling which is really the main focus of the record.

The title track is a reflective tale about the seductiveness of being on the road and never really settling down enough to call anywhere home: “The only placed I ever loved is the place I left behind”. This theme is repeated a number of times through the record as our protagonists run from the blues, chase dreams or, in the case of ‘Big City Lights’, search for “peace and quiet with these big city lights all around me”. Yet there is an undeniable sense that at the heart of it, there is a deeper yearning to find a meaningful existence and a geographic location that will facilitate the healing. The stories are written from the heart with no room for pretentious metaphors or obscure references. Instead, The Place I Left Behind is a journey into the diverse and wide landscapes of our inner most thoughts.

TDDW’s have fashioned a deep and dark record, grounded in tradition, unhurried in its pace and rooted in the art of storytelling. The album does not apologise for moving slowly or repeating themes; quite the opposite. The Place I Left Behind revels in the simplicity of it all.