“Borne in the the bedroom of a family home in Toronto, Casey Mecija’s gentle compositions found their natural habitat in Toronto. Enlisting the help of her younger sister, Jenny, and friends Heather Kirby and Anissa Hart, her songs began to take shape. An encounter with James Bunton and Ryan Carley led to further collaboration and the conception of Ohbijou’s orchestration. Furnished with mandolin, violin, piano, banjo, cello, and other instruments, a seven piece orchestral pop force began to appear on stages in Toronto. The band has garnered many fans throughout Canada and recently completed a number of well-received shows at SXSW. The band is also touring North America. Following the European release of BEACONS in June ‘09, the band will be touring Europe and playing several festivals.”

There’s a freshness, intimacy and elegance about this album that’s quite beguiling. ‘Intro To The Season’ provides the first examples of this with its upbeat vibe, and Casey’s sweet, gentle vocal. Melody and orchestration are also major features in this strong opening gambit. ‘Wildfires’ is in similar vein although the instrumental arrangement looms larger. ‘Black Ice’ has an altogether more assertive feel as drums beat a steady rhythm under Casey’s fragile vocal and twinkling piano notes. Adding to the lovely vibe are the vocal harmonies that wander in towards the end of the song. ‘Cliff Jumps’ offers a more contemplative ambience with its charming guitar intro, slower pace, more focused vocal and astute orchestration. Lyrically, this song exemplifies the central theme of the album which is city life.

‘Cannon March’ opens with bold piano notes which continue to offer a stark contrast to Casey’s gentle vocal. There’s a fairground ambience to the song as it rolls along painting a picture of a young girl rushing excited from one attraction to the next in happy abandon. ‘Eloise & The Bones’ is sonically very different, providing lightness and darkness in equal measure. The instrumental arrangement is more aggressive and plays a leading role. ‘Thunderlove’ opens with a rapid acoustic guitar strum, while Casey’s voice progresses at a much slower, more thoughtful pace. This is a distinctive song and one of the best of a very attracive bunch. There’s clearly much work gone into coming up with instrumental arrangements to provide that distinction and ambience right through the album. ‘New Years’ is another prime example where mandolin, drums, cello and violin can be heard chasing the vocal in what is the most epic song here. This one’s a bit special. ‘Make It Gold’ suddenly changes sonic emphasis from instruments to voice which suddenly becomes clearer with every lyric clearly audible.

‘Memorium’ provides the saddest moment on the record with violins chiming in mournfully and vocal harmonies wandering in add to the thoughtful tone. The song then begins to build to a heart-stopping crescendo towards the end with the piano leading the charge for the finishing line.

BEACONS is a highly distinctive and original pop album where the honours are shared equally between vocals and instruments in successfuly interpreting Casey’s intricate songs. A feature on albums that can be loosely compared to this is the tendency for all songs to sound very similar. Not so here because the orchestrations cleverly differentiate songs while providing the appropriate mood and ambience. This is a beautiful, moving and accessible album, and one not to be ignored.

4/5