It's been awhile since Vancouver alt-folk quartet The Fugitives have gotten around to releasing any new material, thanks to their packed touring schedule and outside pursuits (guitarist Brendan McLeod and accordionist Barbara Adler are accomplished poets/writers).

But the Fugitives' new five-song EP 'Find Me' offers a short but sweet reminder of the band's "modern folk" sound before their full-length is released in March 2010.

Sprightly lead track 'Breaking Promises' makes it clear that the group is still drawing from a deep artistic well. The tune makes ample use of the quartet's tight, note-perfect harmonies from the opening bars through to the final notes. Their voices blend so effortlessly, in fact, it's often hard to tell where the lead vocal begins and the backing harmonies end. Throw in a choir of Vancouver musician pals on the gang choruses and when they all sing out in unison that they "won't be breaking promises," they sound pretty convincing, indeed.

It's easy to see how The Fugitives have become a favourite on the festival circuit -- the band's fresh take on folk music is a far cry from the old patchouli-and-acoustic-guitars stereotype, instead building on the melodic foundations of roots music and giving it their own updated spin. While 'Breaking Promises' centres around a plucked banjo line, it's anything but unbearably twangy -- the instantly hummable melody is punctuated in just the right spots by unobtrusive percussion, leaving the effervescent vocals to take centre stage.

The band's writerly approach to songcraft also serves them well -- they drew inspiration from a wide swath of real-life tales, from news stories to eavesdropped conversations. That mix of fact and fiction certainly colours 'Breaking Promises', which feels a bit like a short story told by a slightly unreliable narrator. An evocative spoken-word interlude (sounding almost like a distant radio clip) partway through the song adds to the overall poetic effect.

It's perhaps fitting that the Fugitives sing that they're not going to break any pacts. If anything, the group more than delivers on the promise of their earlier work and keeps listeners eager to find out where they may musically escape to next.

Download: The Fugitives, 'Breaking Promises' (MP3)