Jenn Grant may seem like just another example of Atlantic Canada's talented exports, from Sarah McLachlan to more recent contemporaries such as Jill Barber, but on Echoes, her followup to the well-regarded Orchestra for the Moon, Grant proves to be more than a pretty voice. Although albums may now be temporary carriers for downloaded and shuffled songs, Echoes is best heard as a whole. It may be the perfect soundtrack for the tail-end of winter, impatient for days to grow longer.

Though Grant's sparse guitar underscores much of Echoes, the record is rich in detail — opener “Heartbreaker” is carried by woozy bass clarinet, and the doo-wops of “Parachutes” dispel the record's initial drowsiness. Although Grant recalls such distinctive singers as folk singer Karen Dalton, she and producer Jonathan Goldsmith place her voice deep in the sound of the record. On “Sailing by Silverships,” multi-tracked Grants harmonize over bleating horns, martial drums and oscillating strings, as satisfying and risk-taking as anything on Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion and even more notable as it follows the cozy domesticity of “(I've Got) the Two of You.” Penultimate number “Everybody Loves You” even offers the tantalizing prospect that Grant may yet follow the largely neglected lead of cult songwriter Mary Margaret O’Hara into even further uncharted territory.