There’s a sign on the outskirts of town.

A buzzard sits atop it. The grass brown and parched below. It’s dusty, faded, chipped at the edges, graffiti filling the empty white spaces, a bullet hole or two visible in the large, black letters that read:

Welcome to Faded Gloryville. Leave your dreams behind.

In the eyes and imagination of acclaimed Canadian singer-songwriter Lindi Ortega it’s a place we’ve all been, we’re all familiar with or will one day know all too well.

Some visit. Some stay. Some escape. Some leave only to return again.

And for Lindi, it was also the source of inspiration — in title and in spirit — for her stunning new collection of country-kissed songs that make up her fourth full-length release set to come out on new Last Gang Record imprint, The Grand Tour.

It is an album that is filled with the sights and sounds and souls of those who’ve found themselves in Faded Gloryville, brought to its saloons, flophouses and cheap motels by drink, by debt, by vanity, heartbreak, failure, fear or misfortune.

It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to those familiar with her incredible gifts that the feisty, fiery and fierce force of nature had no intention of taking up permanent residency in Faded Gloryville.

It was a pitstop. She took what she needed and high-tailed it out of there, hitting the road to capture its essence in three very different recording sessions.

The first two were with producers Dave Cobb, who was behind the boards for her 2013 Juno Award-nominated album Tin Star, and fellow Canadian Colin Linden, who helped her realize her vision for 2012’s Polaris Prize nominated Cigarettes & Truckstops.

The results of those, Lindi says, should be pleasing to those many fans fallen hard for her own unique take on the torch and twang of her country influences such as Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, and Johnny Cash.

The final session took her towards a more Muscle Shoals sound utilized by artists such as Solomon Burke, Ray Charles, and Otis Redding. Helping her navigate the new terrain were John Paul White from The Civil Wars and Ben Tanner from the Alabama Shakes.

It features everything from barnburner songs and the good ol’ foot-stomping, toe-tapping numbers to the ballads that Lindi has made her calling card, all delivered with an energy and emotional investment that makes them utterly her own.

And, of course, wrapped up in those fashionably tattered yet toney musical threads are the tales of those long-time denizens of Faded Gloryville, delivered with a remarkable amount of smarts, heart and humour.