Let's Be Ready

Canadian indie folk band the Wooden Sky earned a Polaris Music Prize nomination for their 2009 sophomore album If I Don't Come Home You'll Know I'm Gone, and were shortlisted for a Juno for 2012's Every Child a Daughter, Every Moon a Sun. With their fourth album, 2015's Let's Be Ready, the Wooden Sky offer more of their ambitious yet accessible sound, a set of songs cued to the wide dynamics and emotional range of Gavin Gardiner's vocals and songwriting, while his accompanists -- Simon Walker on keyboards, guitar, and mandolin, Edwin Huizinga on violin, Andrew Wyatt on bass, and Andrew Kekewich on drums -- give the performances the evocative delivery that's become their hallmark. Let's Be Ready marks the next step for one of Canada's more accomplished young bands. ~ Mark Deming