Since her debut album, Oh, My Darling in 2007, singer-songwriter and Polaris Prize nominee Basia Bulat has traveled to Australia, Europe, and all over North America, reaching as far north as Dawson City, Yukon; still, that hasn't changed her opinion of London, the city she got her first start as a performer while a student at the University of Western Ontario.

“I did a lot of growing up there, so I have a really special place in my heart for the city,” Bulat said from New York City, where she was doing press calls for her sophomore release, Heart Of My Own. Having written many of the songs in transit, Bulat examines her life, relationships and even the concept of home on the new album.

“I kind of feel as though as long as I've got some songs with me then I feel I can sing and feel like I'm there, that I always feel at home... a little bit of the record is about that for sure.”

Now, accompanying Heart Of My Own's release, Bulat will be returning to London's Aeolian Hall on February 4 to perform her eclectic mix of folk and pop, oftentimes with a slightly Slavic twist. And though Bulat's instrument choice of acoustic guitar, autoharp and ukulele remain mainstays on her new album, Bulat's new songs bear a more soulful, orchestral feeling, something she and producer Howard Bilerman wanted to capture.

“I had something a little bit specific in mind with Heart Of My Own. There was a conscious decision to make things sound a little bit louder, a little bit bolder just by the very nature of the fact that I was playing live a lot more and I wanted the record to reflect that. I was performing [these songs] live onstage before I actually went to record them,” Bulat said, something she hadn't done before Oh, My Darling was released to rave reviews.

Heart Of My Own also seems to encompass the greatest musical range, from soft acoustic tunes like Sparrow to the thunderously rolling Gold Rush, written about Dawson City where, coincidentally, the cover of the album was also shot. And though the imagery of her lyrics is vivid, Bulat insists she never writes to particularly encapsulate what surrounds her.

“A lot of my writing is out of my control, and maybe that makes me sound lazy and I don't mean that, but if I was sitting in the woods and trying to write a song about the woods it would probably not be very successful. I'm influenced by my surroundings in the sense that I've been traveling so much, but I have a lucky trait where as soon as something's set in motion in terms of the wheels of the bus or van or train my mind sets off wandering and it kind of goes all over the place and I get all sorts of ideas.”

Now, with Heart Of My Own released earlier this week in North America, another set of adventures awaits Bulat. But before heading overseas again, the album release will be celebrated with a few home audiences. And her concert at Aeolian Hall is one Bulat is truly anticipating.

She left me for yet another set of interviews saying, “It's a special little time to be able to come back to an adopted home and be able to play such a beautiful space.”

Check out Heart Of My Own, released on Secret City Records, or see Bulat play at Aeolian Hall, February 4. Tickets are $20 in advance, $22 at the door.