[3] Produced by James Duncan,[4] the album featured only Wurlitzer electric piano, drum machine and voice, and was characterized by Allmusic as "fragile and highly evocative".
[5] Although receiving little attention at the time, it did garner a Pitchfork review, which, while noting the contrast of elements (the "defiantly tinny drum machine" versus the "ultra-naturalistic cool jazz trumpet" in the song "Hoped-For Chance"), ultimately felt that the album was weighed down by its "unrelieved gloom.
Largely produced by longtime collaborator Zack G, the album also featured production contributions from Leon Taheny (Final Fantasy, Bruce Peninsula) and Jeremy Greenspan (Junior Boys), who named Cummings as "the best songwriter in Canada,"[9] as well as brass arrangements by Owen Pallett.
[12] Following an appearance at South by Southwest in 2010, Cummings shot the video for the song "Breaking Past the Day" in Austin, Texas with director Colin Medley.
[13] In 2011 Cummings was invited by TIFF Bell Lightbox to curate a film program for their Free Screen series, "Mantler's Visual Music", which included a live performance.
In 2017 Cummings' third album as Marker Starling, Anchors and Ampersands, was released, leading AllMusic's Tim Sendra to proclaim it "truly a treat for lovers of soft pop.