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Montreal has become recognized for producing some of the best musicians of the past decade, and Plants and Animals is certainly no exception. The band’s first full-length album, Parc Avenue, was shortlisted for the 2008 Polaris Music Prize and nominated for two Junos in 2009. Not bad, right? It’s also not too surprising; their self-described “post-classic rock” sound is unique and conducive to whatever mood you’re in.

What started as a purely instrumental project blossomed into a collaboration that utilized the vocals of all three band members. Initially, the band enjoyed playing and producing improvised 15-minute sets, but eventually felt their music needed something more.

“Those were the early days of Plants and Animals,” drummer and singer Matthew Woodley says. “It happened gradually. It started with all three of us singing ‘oohs and aahs’ and kind of using our voices as instruments, and then it just grew more into lyrics.”

The stylistic switch paid off. After six years of playing in bars around Montreal, Parc Avenue caught the ears of some high-profile musicians, and Plants and Animals were invited to open for the likes of Gnarls Barkley, Broken Bells, and the National, propelling them to headlining their own gigs throughout North America and Europe.

“It sort of happened over time … enough time [passed] that we could adjust … it was really exciting to feel like now we’re one of the bands in the world! In a small way, but in a way that we can tour and draw people to come see us in other cities and not just our group of extended friends in our own city,” Woodley says. “It’s exciting; it’s what we wanted. We wanted to be able to make a life out of playing music the way that we like to.”

Following Parc Avenue, the band jumped  back into studio and made 2010’s slightly darker La La Land. Once again they toured internationally, this time hitting up many major music festivals around the world.

Two years later, the band has finished The End of That. After recording their previous album in a rush, the band found it refreshing to have more time and energy to invest in writing and recording.

“We spent a bit more time developing this album. We tried to get the songs shaped really as final products before we went in and recorded them, and we were successful in a lot of ways doing that,” Woodley says.

While The End of That may appear to be an even darker release than La La Land, this wasn’t the band’s intention.

“We didn’t create the music with too much heaviness; a lot of it was done genuinely, with a smile,” Woodley explains. “I find the music on The End of That to be a little bit lighter.”

“We’re talking about ‘the end of something’ and crises and life changes but it’s with a lot of humour, and it’s with kind of a feeling of celebration, and that’s the way we approached it.”

This tongue-in-cheek cynicism shows in the lyrics. On “Crisis,” lead singer Warren Spicer joyfully speaks about everyone around him getting married and being in different places in life, singing, “I thought there would be time to make arrangements and adjust to the existential crisis that now secretly controls us.”

In fact, much of the album is influenced strongly by the events of Spicer’s life over the past couple years, adding an element of heartfelt authenticity to the album.

Still, the band is looking forward. “2010 is over,” sings Spicer on the track of the same name,  but three albums in, Plants and Animals are just beginning. The End of That could be the start of something better.

The End of That is out today (Feb. 28) on Secret City Records. The band plays Cabaret Mile-End on March 10. Tickets are $17.