Leaf Rapids is both a small isolated town in Northern Manitoba where Aurora Borealis graffitis the winter skies and the borrowed moniker of this Winnipeg band featuring sweet and smoky harmonies, luscious guitar licks, the eerie sound of the theremin, and a bassline that walks the talk. The collective are realists and dreamers: chemistry professors, dry-wallers, child rearers and custodians of the night. The matrimonial harmonies of Juno-winning lead songwriter Keri Latimer and her husband, bassist Devin Latimer, float lightly on the breeze, ably backed by veteran Winnipeg players drummer Joanna Miller drums and guitarist Chris Dunn. The music is built on Latimer's lilting vocals, dreamy harmonies and her lyrical balance of introspective-yet-quirky, slice-of-life perspective as a keen seer and interpreter of environments and people. Over a lush palette of roots music—ethereal folk, country saloon swagger, and spacey spaghetti western, their songs underscore a hopeful lyrical and melodic tone that's carefully balanced with the weary realities of our world. Latimer and her compadres croon about love as it applies to vultures, tales of Japanese mail-order bride barbershop revenge, satellites, birthday presents wrapped in obituaries, the natural world and bonds of love, insomniacs, velvet paintings and other not-so-tall tales. - Mike Dunn/Kerry Clarke