Ohbijou's Casey Mecija says winter is the best time of year to write songs because that's when romance is the hottest.

Fire and ice. Listen closely to Ohbijou's new album, Beacons, and you can practically hear the snow falling.

"Winter brings us together," the 28-year-old says from her home in Toronto. "It's so quiet and cold and beautiful. It's the time of year we need other people the most. It makes my head spin."

Growing up in Brantford, the shy Mecija would write romantic songs the way many teenaged girls devour romance novels.

It wasn't until she and her artistic younger sister Jennifer moved to Toronto to go to art school, and later, work at MuchMusic, that the siblings became serious about making music.

They recruited four friends -- Heather Kirby on banjo, James Bunton on trumpet, cellist Anissa Hart, and Ryan Carley on piano -- all classically trained string and keyboard players, with the idea of making songs the way rural folk might have a century ago.

The task was made slightly easier by the fact Casey's guitar is the only electric instrument and there's no real percussion. And with no real plan or ambition in mind, this circle of friends played for the simple pleasure of it.

"I was happy because I got to play music that's nice," Mecija says. "I'm too awkward to have the attitude for a rock band, and I was more interested in music that came from tender moments, as romantic as I could make it.

"Strings are so evocative," she adds. "They really grab the listener. They're the most powerful instruments in the band, sad and happy at the same time. I find the melding of pop with classical instruments pretty exciting."

Their debut album, Swift Feet for Troubling Times, came out of humble beginnings in 2006.

The second album, Beacons, which was released in September, continues in that loving spirit, begging comparisons to romantic champions Kate Bush and Joni Mitchell.

And as anyone who's fallen in love will tell you, what makes romance romantic is the chase, and over the past three years, this band of nomads has been on the road, chasing their musical muses, perfecting their crafts and growing as individuals.

"It's a good summation of the past three years," Mecija agrees. "It's been a nomadic experience. We recorded the album in various locations such as Banff, and a couple of studios in Toronto, and then we've been travelling extensively.

"All that dislocation has meant we've all grown individually and as a group. I'm excited about the possibilities of the band."