Forest City Lovers’ Kat Burns wishes that her latest album, Carriage, came out before the hullabaloo of the recent G20 protests, due mostly to her track “Keep The Kids Inside.”

“Man, if we had released that one a week earlier, we would have made all sorts of money for commercials and stuff,” laughs the songwriting Whitby native and recent graduate of OCAD (Ontario College of Art and Design).

A potentially missed opportunity, but if critical raves are any indication, the 11-track LP won’t need much help to go over with audiences and make some cash. The third in the Forest City Lovers’ canon and fourth for Burns herself, Carriage has been called the finest work to date from the Toronto-based pop-quartet – called “the best band you’ve never heard of” by Spin — with its emotive pop hooks like “Tell Me, Cancer” and playful jams such as “If I Were A Tree.”

“We talked about trying new arrangements, experimenting a little bit, because you want to have something that’s a step forward from the last record (2008’s Haunting Moon Sinking),” Burns said. “This one had a higher production value, I think. The sounds are bigger and more full.”

Burns aimed for a more layered, virtuosic release this time around for Carriage, and she got help to do it. With bassist Kyle Donnelly, violinist Mika Posen, and drummer Christian Ingelevics, Burns headed to a cabin in Beaver Valley, Ont. to hash out the songs. The album was then co-produced by Chris Stringer (The D’Urbervilles, Timbre Timbre) and James Bunton (Ohbijou). Born Ruffians’ frontman Luke Lalonde also makes an appearance on a duet. It’s quite a list for a project launched in 2006 to showcase Burns’ writing talents, though she is the first to note that Carriage’s roster was smaller than any other FCL release.

“I don’t want to say it was a democracy but everyone contributed in a way that felt right for them,” Burns said. “Sometimes a song might need something that I don’t play or vice versa. But this record had the least amount of musicians than any other before it. As layered and as intricate as it is, there had been a fairly small number of players.”

Forest City Lovers has an in-store record appearance at Soundscapes on Aug. 10 at 7 p.m. and plays The Great Hall on Aug. 12 at 9:30 p.m.