By Andrew Sketchley, The East Mag

After years of building hype with promotional videos, steady performances, and even an international tour, Port Cities have finally released their self-title debut album. A collaboration of acclaimed Nova Scotian singer/songwriters Carleton Stone, Dylan Guthro, and Breagh McKinnon, Port Cities lays out a stunning performance with unapologetically honest lyrics, smooth three-part harmonies, and slick production. Much like their namesake, Port Cities’ sound is a melting pot, a brilliant blend of country, rock, folk, RnB, and pop influences. Having been years in the making, the intense level of polish and finesse put into the album is clear, but the delicately-tuned final product doesn’t betray the band’s authentic sound in the least.

Port Cities opens strong with the pop-country styled ‘Back to the Bottom’, a catchy, upbeat track with gentle harmonies, a steady rhythm, and an almost hypnotic chorus. One of the album’s most outstanding tracks, ‘Back to the Bottom’ is the perfect track to introduce audiences to Port Cities, showcasing the band’s talented vocalists with an immediately charming feel. Following on this powerful start, Port Cities take a shift to harder rock. ‘Don’t Say You Love Me’, hooks immediately with an infectious beat, high energy, and a Maritime feel in its core melody, while ‘In the Dark’ pairs a pulsing bass line with a catchy chorus for a driven, engaging sound

While the album is solid from start to finish, some tracks still stand out as the cream of the crop. ‘How to Lose You’ is a stunning pop-heavy piece with serene harmonies, meaningful lyrics, and a sound that would be at home amongst Top 40 hits, while ‘Half the Way’ is a catchy, rhythmic rock/country hybrid with a solid bass groove and a hook-filled chorus. Another of the album’s prominent songs, ‘On the Nights You Stay Home’ combines charming Nashville sound with Cape Breton mannerisms to tell an upbeat but dark tale of jealousy and paranoia.

Perhaps the most memorable track on the album is its final one, ‘Astronaut’. [READ MORE]

By Bob Mersereau, Top 100 Canadian Blog

The long-anticipated debut from this young Nova Scotia supergroup has finally arrived, after almost three years of gigs and planning. The trio is made up of established solo artists: Carleton Stone, Breagh MacKinnon and Dylan Guthro, who first got together at the annual Gordie Sampson Songcamp in Cape Breton. Slowly over a few years, they became friends, co-writers and eventually started doing shows together. Finally they realized there was an undeniable magic happening.

Produced by their mentor Sampson, what jumps out the most is the group harmonies, which come out at you in every possible combination. Which each member a singer and writer on their own, they shares the leads, but each track has an arrangement that lets them use that strength to full advantage, coming at you in twos and threes. It’s not even safe to speculate on who wrote what, as they all contribute in multiple combinations. It’s certainly a situation where the whole is bigger than the parts as well, since the songs take off in surprising ways. Each member has complementary yet distinctive skills. While all write, sing and play, they differ as much as they compare; [READ MORE]