Harmer sings with a "beautiful, precise voice" (New York Times) on upbeat tracks such as "Captive," but employed a new approach for the album. "I specifically tried to get out of the pastoral, contemplative end of the spectrum and went for a more direct, aggressive style of songwriting," she says. The result is a lyrically forthright and musically immediate album, with vibrant sounds enveloping Harmer's trademark delicate, enthralling vocals.

The album was produced by Harmer and Gavin Brown, her drummer of ten years prior and producer for Metric. Recorded in Brown's studio, built into an old building in the east end of Toronto, Harmer put the album together piece by piece through the heat of summer and the cold of the Canadian winter. Some parts were recorded with visiting friends on Lake Ontario's Wolf Island and Neko Case's vocal contribution for the song "Silverado" was captured in a Rochester, NY hotel room. Metric's Jimmy Shaw provided guitar and vocals on additional songs.

Literally returning from her "wilderness years," Harmer spent much of her time in between albums fighting for the environment, specifically, for a stretch of Ontario known as the Niagara Escarpment which continues to face threats from industrial development. She even spent time touring along the spine of the area, camping out, completing biological tests and exploring caves in between performances.

Harmer's last album 'I'm a Mountain' was called "exceptional" by Time Magazine, while the New York Times praised her songwriting as "lovely but cunning," calling one track "the prettiest song about deception you'll hear all year."

Harmer will tour North America in 2010 with a date at NYC's City Winery already confirmed for June 23.

Track listing for 'oh little fire':