Imaginary Authors — A City On Fire
Essence
A City On Fire is Imaginary Authors’ definitive smoke study: a dense, tar-forward cade-oil composition built around burnt match, dark berries, and resinous labdanum. Released in 2014 as an exclusive collaboration with a Portland menswear boutique before joining the standard lineup, it wraps a noir, two-detectives backstory around a scent that wearers describe anywhere from “campfire masterpiece” to “burning tire.” Perfumer Josh Meyer built it as a genuine smoke bomb rather than a polite, gourmand-adjacent take on the note, and it remains one of the house’s most unapologetically avant-garde releases - a finalist for the 2015 Art and Olfaction Award.
Scent Profile
The engine of the fragrance is cade oil, a brutal, balsamic, medicinal tar note that reads as smoke from something specific rather than abstract incense - closer to charred paper, burning leaves, or a struck match than a cozy hearth. A dose of woodsmoke dominates the first minutes, often carrying a cough-syrup, VapoRub-like undertone that some wearers find photorealistically like a house fire. This opening is the fragrance’s most divisive moment: for fans it is thrillingly honest; for detractors it can read as genuinely unpleasant.
Spikenard’s earthy, jade-toned aromatics and a mucky, leathered labdanum quickly temper the smoke’s raw edge, while cardamom contributes an oily, dry-sweat spice that flares briefly before folding back into the resin. Dark berries add a sticky, jammy sweetness underneath, preventing the composition from reading as pure ash. Development from here is broadly linear - the sharp opening smoke steadily softens rather than pivoting through distinct movements.
The far drydown is quieter and cozier than the opening but still unmistakably smoky: warm resinous wood, leathered labdanum, and a lingering trace of berry sweetness. The overall arc reads as cardamom-spiced smoke drying to resinous labdanum and wood - intense and dark up top, warm and settled by the end.
Performance
Longevity is very strong and projection runs hot in the first hour, enough that wearers are consistently advised to keep it to one or two sprays; a small minority reports the opposite experience of it fading faster than expected, but the dominant account is a heavy initial trail that settles into a persistent, hours-long smoky presence that clings to fabric even longer than skin. This is a cold-weather fragrance through and through, built for autumn and winter evenings rather than warm-weather wear.
Wearing Context
This is an evening, after-dark fragrance, not an office or daytime scent: think a smoky bar, a scotch in hand, wandering an unfamiliar city late at night. It is marketed unisex but reads more often as masculine in practice, and it rewards wearers who already enjoy avant-garde, challenging niche work - if a bold desert-oud composition or a maximalist gourmand feels like too much, this one likely will too. It is emphatically not a crowd-pleasing “safe” pick, best worn by someone actively seeking a smoke-forward, noir-toned signature rather than a universally flattering scent.
Comparisons & DNA
Comme des Garcons Black is the most frequently cited reference, sharing the dominant smoky-cade, dry-wood, incense-like atmosphere. Sonoma Scent Studio’s Fireside Intense and Rouge Bunny Rouge’s Tundra occupy similar tar-and-smoke territory, with A City On Fire generally read as sitting between the three in intensity. Slumberhouse’s Vikt shares a wild, grassy darkness at the margins. Within the house itself, it is most often compared to Memoirs of a Trespasser, the brand’s smoky-vanilla signature; A City On Fire is the more aromatic, herbal, single-minded sibling, without Memoirs’ sweeter vanilla cushioning.
Reception
Critical reception has been consistently strong: reviewers have praised it as an austere, smoldering, almost claustrophobic evocation of noir tension, and it earned a finalist nod at the 2015 Art and Olfaction Awards. Among everyday wearers the split is much starker - glowing “masterpiece” reactions sit alongside genuinely repelled ones that describe the opening as burning plastic, cigarette ash, or medicine-cabinet cough syrup.
What emerges is broad agreement that the fragrance is honestly, uncompromisingly executed rather than synthetic or thin - the disagreement is entirely about whether cade oil’s raw tar-smoke character is something you want to wear at all. It is frequently cited as the release that convinced buyers to explore the rest of the Imaginary Authors line, a strong signal of quality even from wearers who personally find the note challenging.
Versions & Reformulation
No reformulation is documented. A City On Fire began life in 2014 as a limited collaboration release in 30 ml and 60 ml sizes before being absorbed into the standard Imaginary Authors lineup at 50 ml, plus 14 ml and 2 ml travel and sample formats. The official note list uses “clearwood,” a patchouli-derived material, in a slot that some retail listings render as “juniper” - a naming variance worth knowing about rather than a formula change.
Acquisition Notes
The 50 ml eau de parfum is priced at $115 directly from the brand, with 14 ml and 2 ml formats available for those who want to test the note before committing - a sensible approach given how polarizing cade oil can be. It remains in regular production and is stocked by a handful of authorized niche retailers. Buy through the brand’s own site or an authorized stockist rather than an unverified secondhand listing.
Notable Facts & Lore
- The fragrance was originally developed as an exclusive collaboration with Machus, a Portland menswear boutique, before joining the standard Imaginary Authors lineup.
- Like every Imaginary Authors release, it comes wrapped in a fictional backstory - in this case a noir graphic novel about two matchmakers who witness a murder and become reluctant vigilantes.
- It was a finalist for the 2015 Art and Olfaction Award in the Artisan category.
- Perfumer Josh Meyer has described his overall aesthetic as “big large goopy oil paintings, thick, rich and heavy with materials,” a description that fits this fragrance especially well.
- At least one buyer has said the scent was compelling enough to send them looking for the brand’s printed short-story collection just to understand its inspiration.