Album Reviews

Melbourne indie rocker Samsaruh spent her early teens busking with her guitar and released her first EP at 16 under her birth name. Now she’s accumulating a loyal fanbase throughout Australia and beyond. After releasing nine singles over the course of two years, and lending her voice and songwriting to other artists, Samsaruh dropped the EP Elysian in August. Written in Los Angeles during the first half of 2019, Elysian features a variety of tones, from pop rock bops to cinematic ballads. There’s a sound for every listener.

Since Virginia native Lucy Dacus released her first single, “I Don’t Wanna Be Funny Anymore,” in the fall of 2015, her music career has ascended at an astonishing speed. Both her debut album, No Burden, and her sophomore album, Historian, enjoyed critical acclaim.

In the wake of their full-length debut, Plastic Cough, Seattle grunge pop group Great Grandpa lived, worked, and toured together before scattering across the United States. 

Charlie Parr is back and better than ever with his new eponymous album that features both new writing and old crowd favorites. Released on September 27th, 2019 by Red House Records, Charlie Parr is his thirteenth album. The folk-blues artist is Minnesota born and raised and has spent much of his music career right here in Duluth.

  Dublin-based rock band The Murder Capital dropped their debut album When I Have Fears in August of 2019. The quintet signed to Human Season Records in 2018 and found a producer in Flood, the engineer behind the work of artists from PJ Harvey to U2 to Nine Inch Nails. A close friend’s suicide inspired the album’s title and its themes of death and mental illness; the band’s home city informed lyrics about gentrification and homelessness in the name of development.

Detroit-born Olivia Jean started her music career by handing out demos at shows. In the city’s flourishing garage rock scene, she caught the attention of Jack White and signed to his label Third Man Records as the guitarist for The Black Belles in 2009. White wanted an all-female rock band on Third Man and brought the group together. The band saw reasonable success until 2012 when the band went on hiatus, and Olivia Jean began her solo career. Her first album Bathtub Love Killings had a more pop-oriented take on the garage rock sound of The Black Belles.

In January of 2018 Minneapolis trio Last Import dropped their first professional release, a five song EP called Songs for Adam. It was a blast of jaunty and edgy punk rock. Three of the five songs from this surf punk sampling would end up on their debut LP Last Import in February of 2019. 

Someone broke Justin Vernon’s heart in 2006. He recovered by holing up in a Wisconsin cabin for the winter where he wrote the Bon Iver debut album For Emma, Forever Ago. 

Life Parade’s Suburban Life introduces itself with a misdirection; the opening track “Sine” sounds more like a prologue than a first song. Between the distorted voice over murmuring “I know you’re anxious…” and buzzing electronica, the first impression is of a personal space epic. 

Chicago native Ezra Furman set out to make a punk record for his eighth album. During the dark days of 2018, Furman and his band “drank and smoked” their way into a blistering, concise protest album in Twelve Nudes. All of the songs express pent up rage or distress, and almost all of them do it loudly.

Prince| “Nothing Compares 2 U”

Two years after Minnesota lost one of its biggest icons in Prince, we are still receiving classics from him posthumously. The man who made purple more than just a color has had his previously unreleased single “Nothing Compares 2 U” put out by Warner Bros. Records. Originally recorded in 1984 for Prince’s band the Family, it was made famous via a 1990 re-recording by Sinéad O’Connor which spawned her greatest hit.

Various Artists -Revamp: The Songs Of Elton John & Bernie Taupin | Restoration: Reimagining The Songs Of Elton John And Bernie Taupin

Flatbush Zombies | Vacation in Hell

Nat Harvie Trio | Broken Record

Nat Harvie and the two other members of their trio, Sam Williams and Becca DeBoer, have crafted one of the most entertaining debuts by any Minnesota artists recently.

Shrimpnose | Sullen

We’ve all had to face adversity in our lives in one way or another, but Shrimpnose may be proof that it takes time to conquer our demons. Overcoming several obstacles early in his life and till this day, the Minneapolis producer still finds a way to rise up and make music for others to do the same. Investing newfound energy and emotion into his newest project, Sullen, Shrimpnose crafts a peaceful electronica experience.