Montreal-bred songwriter JF Robitaille is no stranger to lofty expectations. Yes, he’s long been celebrated as one of the most engaging songwriters North of the 49–a fact evident even in his earliest days, when he fronted indierock outfit the Social Register in the aughts–but with 2013’s Rival Hearts, the world began to take notice. After the album charted in Germany, he found himself playing for large crowds at Hamburg’s fabled Reeperbahn Festival along with several other gigs throughout that country. Robitaille’s international rep began to resemble his accolades in Canada. Here, a troubadour cut from the same cloth as Leonard Cohen. Or Nick Drake. Or Bob Dylan.

Those hat-tips were undoubtedly flattering–as was the appearance of Rival Hearts on plenty of year-end lists, including his hometown newspaper, the Montreal Gazette–but they also set an imposing precedent. Thankfully, with his third full-length, entitled “Palace Blues”, Robitaille has delivered on those expectations–just not in the way you’d expect. Robitaille’s literary penchant and sophisticated song craft may still get him Cohen comparisons, but unlike Leonard’s Songs of Love and Hate, you’d never find him sipping scotch in the basement of theMatador. Because, as Robitaille has admitted, this is certainly not a folk album.

His whispery vocals still guide the affairs, but with this album, he lets his arrangements do much of the storytelling. Take, for instance, the melancholic “Dece