Carolyn Mark & NQ Arbuckle — Let's Just Stay Here

Carolyn Mark is understandably — though somewhat unfortunately — often compared to her former bandmate, Neko Case. And even though the two alt.country chanteuses share many of the same qualities, the comparisons inevitably paint Mark as a second-rate singer/songwriter, forever standing in Case's shadow.

Not that any of this seems to bother Mark, though. The Vancouver singer has produced a stream of fantastic records, culminating in her latest, Let's Just Stay Here. She's enlisted the aid of country rockers NQ Arbuckle, less as side men than creative foils to craft what's destined to become a Canadian classic.

Let's Just Stay Here is filled with songs of love and loss with ample references to Canada along the way, tracks like "The 2nd Time," "Officer Down" and "Canada Day Off/Toronto" which namedrop the CBC and related programming. Mark and company have forged a solid path in the Canadian conscience.

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