It took moving to Ontario to help Nils Edenloff appreciate Alberta.

Not that he's considering a move here any time soon, but the singer and main songwriter for Toronto-based trio, The Rural Alberta Advantage, better understands how his home province has informed his creativity.

"Even though I moved away to Toronto a while ago, part of me was shaped there," Edenloff says during a phone interview.

The band's debut full-length CD, Hometowns, received glowing reviews when it was re-released by American indie label Saddle Creek last year.

Deservedly so, as the album's gorgeous collection of acoustically driven, synth-enhanced and percussion-heavy songs is far more well-crafted than most indie rock albums of the past few years.

Above the warm sounds of glockenspiels and cello, Edenloff sings of relationships lost and romantic prairie memories. Three songs are even named after Alberta towns -- Frank, AB, Dethbridge in Lethbridge and Edmonton.

"Alberta was important part of my growing up," Edenloff explains.

"I didn't realize the impact that growing up there had on me until I moved away. I am who I am because of Alberta."

Raised in Fort McMurray, Edenloff relocated to Toronto eight years ago after graduating with a degree in computer engineering from the University of Alberta.

While he moved east ostensibly to find work in his field, Edenloff admits it was the lure of Toronto's larger music scene that drew him there.

"I just wanted to see the bands that were playing in the hope of starting a band at some point," he recalls.

"It wasn't part of a five-year plan or anything. It was just getting towards that last year of school at U of A and I just wanted a change."

The Rural Alberta Advantage plays Thursday and Friday night at Broken City.