Each month, we’re rounding up the latest local music that’s been on repeat. Follow our Spotify playlist to keep up with new music releases from Minnesota.
Annie Fitzgerald, “What About Now”
Annie Fitzgerald has a way of taking sorrow and turning it into something beautiful and hopeful. “What About Now” is a series of singles Fitzgerald has released over the last few months. In her work, she can take a simple, sweet sound and run with it, over and over; as smooth and fluid as it is bubbling and fractured. This is the last of the new music she is releasing before settling in to work on a new album.
Haley, “Good Things”
Any day that includes a new song by Haley is a good day. “Good Things” is a cover of a Sleater-Kinney song, and Haley adds her signature vocals that carry the weight of the world in its range. The single is turned on its head and stripped down and becomes a cathartic song perfect for a rainy autumn day as she sings “why do good things never wanna stay? some things you lose, some things you give away.” “Good Things” will be part of Haley’s new album Hunca Munca to be released on October 13.
Aldrich, “In the Blue”
Aldrich is the project of songwriter and producer Caleb Anderson. Anderson draws from his experiences of a slower-paced life via growing up in central Minnesota, which renders into his music andgrabs you by sneaking slowly into your psyche. “In the Blue” is vinyl fuzz with near-discernible sounds growing organically from it. It’s lush and orchestral, is still soft and absent enough to hold your thoughts and let them wander.
RZ Shahid, “Warrior”
“Warrior” traces your heartbeat and shares what it’s like pushing through your struggles and getting back up and shaking off doubts to push forward. RZ Shahid crafts a song whose title sets itself up for combat, but struts on fearlessly, starting with a chorus, before launching into another one, and then another, all over a melody that is smooth and transitions into life and the future. It’s a promising glimpse into the work of the songwriter, producer and creative director.
Nobody Likes You Pat, “What a Good Friend Is For”
Shrugging off his old skin like a cicada, Pat Kiloran leaves behind his work in MILKK, which he wrote and toured with for the latter half of the 2010s, and comes back with Nobody Likes You Pat. The new sound drips with pop sensibilities but all of the pieces, like “What a Good Friend Is For,” come with life stories for pondering life and what’s ahead. If you’ve ever questioned your life and decisions, then you’ll readily connect to the work of Nobody Likes You Pat.
Black Velvet Punks, “Appetite (Wish You Well)”
This song by the new neo-soul outfit Black Velvet Punks has a precociousness to it that sounds like it stems from hard fought wisdom, with intricate and gorgeous guitar work unspooling throughout (and it’s way less punk-sounding than you’d think).
Dua Saleh, “Daylight Falls”
Harmonizing over a flurry of reverberating guitars, the amorphous Sudanese-American musician Dua Saleh is back with their most warm ballad yet. The new single builds into a massive sounding anthem, a promising sign of what’s to come from this futuristic artist.
Zach Bryan (feat. Bon Iver), “Boys of Faith”
The current king of alt-country (who just landed a #1 on the charts with Kacey Musgraves) is back with a new collab, this time with Justin Vernon, in a bro-jam that’s all about the bonds of brotherhood.
The Replacements, “Can’t Hardly Wait (Cello Version)”
So much ink has been spilled already comparing the original with the new remaster of Tim, The Replacements’ major label strike out, that’s left many a critic scratching their head and wondering what could have been with this band. This alternate version of the classic is more roots-y and acoustic, less rough around the edges, with a different energy than the original’s massive power-pop.