The second album from The Wilderness of Manitoba. They toured the US four times to promote this album including dates opening for Aimee Mann in California.

The Wilderness of Manitoba – Press Quotes for When You Left The Fire

“The Wilderness of Manitoba has constructed an absolutely breathtaking album that makes you want to go and set up a campfire outside. Their music is so soothing and beautiful you’ll wonder why you’ve never listened to them before. It is something you have to absorb as many of the songs are over the four minute mark. But once you realize the genius of these songs you could have this album on repeat for a long, long time. The album has a lot of strengths - one being the group vocals. They are prevalent in many of the album’s thirteen tracks and tend to give all their songs just a little more punch. It gives the song even more punch when the voices harmonize like in “Native Tongues.” Another strength is the combination of lyrics and melodies. The two work harmoniously in making each song a thing of beauty. Take, for example, “St. Petersburg.” It starts out with a few gentle acoustic melodies that intertwine with lyrics about a fabled warrior. “Native Tongues” is referenced again because of the lyrics that start off the song: ‘One day the axe just fell/Driving me to hell and back from where I came/I’ll never look the same way twice/Without a thought/The lie is always caught just once it spreads without a clue.’ The result of these great melodies, vocals and lyrics combining has brought forth an album that, while from a fairly “young” band, sounds as though it was produced by masters.” Grayowl Point
“When You Left The Fire sounds like an album you created in a blackout. With no power for the amps or mixing desk, a group of musicians rely solely on the power of multi-part harmonies and acoustic instruments. With no mechanism to document the results for posterity, the music is recorded to memory, a record to be played in one’s own head. The Wilderness of Manitoba sound like a dream, one from which you never wish to wake. The minor stir they created last year with the release of the Hymns of Love & Spirits EP drew a lot of attention to The Wilderness of Manitoba. Even on that early EP, you could hear the trajectory of The Wilderness of Manitoba’s musical evolution from traditional folk-inspired camp fire songs to more complex, layered ballads of love and longing. With When You Left The Fire, the entire band has provided input and ideas to the music, and the new colours and shades provided by Dalton and Banjevic (as well as Sean Lancaric) has expanded The Wilderness of Manitoba’s palette considerably. From the somewhat mournful dirge “St. Petersburg” to the crackling beauty of “Hermit”, The Wilderness of Manitoba is an arresting collective. There are musical nooks and crannies to go exploring in their fuller sound, like secret compartments that hold all kinds of added treasures. I can listen to album opener “Orono Park” over and over for that exact reason: every listen reveals something new and different that wasn’t there before. In very short order, The Wilderness of Manitoba have come out of the, uh, “wilderness” of Canada’s indie music scene. When You Left The Fire is the kind of album that doesn’t leave you the same way you were before you listened to it. If anything, you’ll carry its warm glow and mellow beauty with you for hours–if not days–on end.” Quick Before It Melts
“The Wilderness of Manitoba is actually from the wilderness of Toronto, but what a wonderful bit of mystery and moonshine they get up to on their album When You Left The Fire. This fivesome, on a variety of instruments and with four of them singing, is like some hippie reincarnation of the Beach Boys in their TM, vegetarian, singing in the bottom of an empty swimming pool days. Mix in some debut Crosby, Stills, and Nash, and some of the other communal music menageries that were going on at the time, add modern studio techniques, get quiet, and mellow out. From the slow awakening of Orono Park, as the instruments and voices come to life, through the delicate melody of November's train ride, the spectacular Hermit, with its ghostly vocals, the banjo and drums rocker of Summer Fires, to the wonderful Sea Song, with its lap steel and disembodied vocal moans, the wilderness play their instruments, their multi-tracked multi vocals, and their recording studios with delicate assurance and finesse. There are textures and washes of sound here that betray the group's pet sounds and themes: the yearning of their vocal harmonies (hello Brian Wilson), their tributes to family, their playfulness with the space around sounds and the ways that melodies and harmonies can wrap around each other all show a great feeling of adventurousness, of dawning on a new place, what one might imagine a sensual wilderness to be.” The Star Phoenix
“From the middle of Toronto, Ontario comes the Wilderness of Manitoba with a lavish follow-up to their 2009 EP, Hymns of Love and Spirits. In between accessible, melodic opener "Orono Park" and the closing 13 minutes of pure, crackling atmosphere fall an assortment of evocative indie folk ramblings. Although the band's reverb-y, choral-style vocals are reminiscent of Fleet Foxes, there's too much distinctive musical chemistry on When You Left The Fire to permit the comparison to stick for long. The churchy vibe created by the choir of singers and the cathedral-ceiling resonance are peeled back, at times, to make way for a simple, plucked acoustic sound, creating a nice balance that keeps the album fresh. The tremendous blooming of "Summer Fires" into a hair-raising, harmony-heavy slice of symphonic glory, the blissed-out jam that ends "Native Tongue" and the poignant banjo line of "In The Family" all stand out on this unique, challenging, diverse recording.” Exclaim magazine
“Please make room on your big list of great Canadian country/folk/pop bands for The Wilderness Of Manitoba, a young outfit who hail from the wilds of Toronto. While their debut EP, Hymns of Love and Spirits, quietly introduced the quintet to unsuspecting masses, their first full-length will surely widen the spotlight on the band, who have already garnered a great deal of European exposure. Recorded in both their basement home studio and the Timothy Eaton Memorial Church, When You Left the Fire captures the raw power, emotion and considerable skills of the five multi-instrumentalists (four of whom sing).” Hour Magazine/Ottawa Xpress
“There’s lots of fire imagery in the 13 songs that make up the debut full-length by Toronto chamber folk band the Wilderness of Manitoba. Their hushed, woe-laden sound is anything but fiery, though, instead evoking something closer to the slow-burning final embers that linger in a wood stove once everyone’s gone to bed. Infusing 60s American and British folk touches with pop sensibilities and mostly forgoing drums for acoustic guitars and banjos, the five-piece use reverb-drenched three- and four-part harmonies to create lush, languid soundscapes that swirl with dreamy lap steel and carefully placed strings. Most interestingly, folk conventionalities slowly give way to genre-expanding experimentation as the album unfolds. Take Native Tongue, which begins almost as a sea shanty before veering into percussive psychedelia, and the 13-minute instrumental closer, Reveries En Couleurs, which gets super-creepy.” Now Magazine
“The Wilderness of Manitoba fulfills the promise of last year’s well-received EP Hymns of Love & Spirits with debut full-length When You Left the Fire. The Toronto band draws influence from 1960s folk acts, but in a fresh way, as the familiar elements of the album serve to provide a pleasant context for the otherwise original and memorable arrangements. Guitars, bass and drums are augmented by ukulele, cello, lap steel, and singing bowls, but the songs never seem overcrowded. At the center of the band’s well-crafted sound are remarkable vocal harmonies and stirring lyrics. When You Left the Fire is a stunner from beginning to end and should be regarded as one of the year’s best debut albums.” Pop Matters
“When You Left The Fire is quietly gorgeous folk brilliance. It may sound crazy, but you've really got to be in the right mood to fully appreciate luscious vocal harmonies and intricate acoustic melodies...and those, of course, are two things When You Left The Fire has in spades. Moreover, as songs like "Hermit" and "Summer Fires" demonstrate, to fully appreciate The Wilderness of Manitoba, you need to have patience to allow those harmonies and those melodies to fully unfold, and to really allow them to wrap you up in their warm embrace.” I Heart Music

“When You Left the Fire is the band’s first full-length album and it’s a slow-burning, ear-bending gem. Sad and sweet and winsome, it’s reminiscent of Neil Young’s Harvest, but it is fresh and vibrant rather than nostalgic.” The Record

“It’s been a long time since I’ve heard a CD anything like The Wilderness of Manitoba’s first full length album, When You Left The Fire. I’ve spent the last week listening to it constantly. When You Left The Fire may just be the most beautiful sounding record of the year so far. Deep cello sounds resonate beneath shimmering layers of strings to create a sound reminiscent of Brian Wilson, Pentangle and The Incredible String Band in their heyday. The singing is never short of heavenly as Will Whitwham, Scott Bouwmeester, Stefan Banjevic and Melissa Dalton soar through rich choral arrangements that often sound eerily like Simon and Garfunkel or Crosby, Stills, and Nash. The Wilderness of Manitoba sound simply breathtaking.” No Depression
“The Low Anthem creates space and tension and always leave you wanting more. After each listen, you begin to appreciate this restraint as their tunes become more beautiful in time. And while it may seem ambitious to lump an up-and-coming band from Canada in with one of the best American acts around, the Wilderness of Manitoba exhibit many of the same qualities that make The Low Anthem so special. Their EP, Hymns of Love and Spirits, was a solid listen, but in no way prepared me for what their full length debut had in store. While their EP was more traditional and built more around vocal harmonies, the full length sees the five piece band from Toronto spreading their wings and challenging themselves. On the EP, there were two principle songwriters. On When You Left The Fire, band member Melissa Dalton says “Everyone had input on the new songs from the very first listening, sometimes on the same day that the song had been written.” The more communal effort has given the band a much fuller sound. The second track, “November,” features a mournful lap steel over an elegant folk song. “Hermit,” a tune that wouldn’t sound out of place on The Low Anthem’s Charlie Darwin, features a harmonica riff that gives the tune a nice bounce. Midway through you are greeted with another standout track in “Summer Fires.” The song slowly builds as an acoustic guitar and banjo dance around and then the percussion crashes in at about 50 seconds. I am itching to see these guys live.” Hear Ya
“When You Left the Fire marks the first full length release from Ontario's The Wilderness of Manitoba, and despite their relative inexperience as a collective, this group of Canadian musicians toil in a sound arguably as lush as their namesake. Though the band traces its roots to a common folk background, they project much more than the musings of simply another generic folk band. In fact, folk seems almost too sparse a word to categorize the group's verdant soundscape. Instead of dwelling in such a broad-yet-constrictive genre, The Wilderness of Manitoba take a note from the ambient pop sound that's so well done in their homeland, and apply it to their own mix of brilliantly atmospheric alt-folk. There is somewhat of a fantastical nature at the heart of When You Left the Fire. Whether it be the eerie guitars and ethereal vocals the band so excels at, or perhaps even the oddly serene feeling that goes along with them, but whatever it is gives rise to a sense of euphoric wonder. Standouts "November" and "Hermit" illustrate that, despite some darker musical segues, serenity and ease are the undeniable strength of the album. Meanwhile, harmonies seam in and out of "White Water" with a fervent desperation that only adds to the album's deep layering. When You Left the Fire sees the melding of a layered folk output, with a tinge of pop sensibility. The band's music is intriguing as it is invigorating. Though it may not have wooed this years Polaris Prize Panel, the childlike marvel surrounding When You Left the Fire just may captivate you if you let it.” QRO Magazine
“While this band is from Toronto, their music is better described in terms of their Wilderness of Manitoba namesake than of the noise-infected streets of their metropolitan environs. With delicate instrumentation that conjures images of vast expanses of untouched forest peppered with lakes and gently flowing streams, rich melodic layers reminiscent of endless wheat fields beneath endless skies, and with harmonies like a gentle prairie wind, When You Left the Fire is the perfect soundtrack to a rainy prairie day. It’s beautifully spacey dream-folk that’s perfectly lonesome in lyric and sound. It’s the long winter that just won’t leave, and then you realize that you want it to stay. Standout track Orono Park gets the album off to a rockin’ start and after its ethereal introduction, the haunting Hermit will linger long after it’s over.” The Uniter
“If all music were categorized to reflect a specific season, then Toronto quintet the Wilderness of Manitoba would easily be the soundtrack of autumn. Their debut full-length, When You Left the Fire, expands upon their Hymns of Love and Spirits EP with its peaceful ambience, dreamy four-part harmonies and laid-back folk melodies. It’s immediately evident that aspects of nature have heavily influenced everything from lyrics to the general mood of the record. Lone female vocalist Melissa Dalton shines, complementing the layers of male vocals (provided by Will Whitwham, Scott Bouwmeester and Stefan Banjevic) on songs such as “Orono Park.” And though the album’s mostly ambient, songs like “Summer Fires” and “Hardship Acres” provide a stronger folk twang and swinging rhythms. It may not be fall now, but When You Left the Fire is a phenomenal collection of songs perfect for a relaxing afternoon all year round.” Eye Magazine
“November – the Wilderness of Manitoba. Little about this exceptional five-piece is what it appears to be. Despite their name, Ontario is their home province, and regardless of the wintry title – the song was actually written on the Trans-Siberian Railway – this graceful, harmony-laden ballad works just fine on a sweltering summer day. There’s also something of an out-of-time feel to their music. Think early Joni Mitchell and the first Crosby, Stills & Nash album, and you’ve got one of the prettiest, most wistful albums of the year. Highly recommended. (From When You Left the Fire). Toronto Star, Anti Hit List

“This disc arrived kinda late in the month...and as a result we didn't have time to completely absorb the material. But after only two spins we sure as Hell wanted to make sure to include this disc in our reviews this month. The folks in Wilderness of Manitoba have come up with a truly credible and, at times, incredible album. When You Left the Fire contains beautiful tracks that range from folk to pop...with subtle threads of bluegrass sprinkled here and there. The band's songs are melodic and smart and feature fresh and friendly lyrics. Thirteen tracks here. Initial standout cuts include "Orono Park," "Hardship Acres," "In The Family," and "White Water." Our guess is that this one will stand up to dozens upon dozens of repeated spins.” Babysue.com

“It's evident after the first two minutes of this full-length's opener — the Fleet Foxes-like "Orono Park" — that the Wilderness Of Manitoba has found its footing as a band. The change in Wilderness' approach primarily materializes as instrumental fullness. Four-part vocal harmonies are employed as the primary instrument, with banjo, cello, harmonica, lap steel, acoustic guitar and sparse drumming along to bolster the singing.” Chartattack.com