Review Roundup: Alex Krug Combo, SunYears, Holly Lerski
This week's roundup features sleeping in woodlands, forlorn songs, and an epic Greek trilogy!
There are so many great albums, and never enough time! In this feature, editor Rachel Cholst celebrates some of the best queer country EPs and albums you may have missed!
Alex Klug Combo – Sleeping On the Woodlands
Lately I've been interested in the confluence of jazz and roots music. The divide between the two isn't really that strict when you think about it – at the end of the day, it's just about chord structure. With Sleeping On the Woodlands, Alex Klug Combo demonstrate this axiom with four songs that sweep the listener away on a tide of emotion that transcends the lyrics. The band has an intuitive sense of each other, dancing in waves of music that feel as true as any old-growth forest.
SunYears – The Song Forlorn
SunYears continues in the theme of free-flowing, emotive folk. The newest project of Peter Morén (Peter Paul and Bjorn.) There is very much that vein of millenial twee running through this project, but Morén brings a devastating weariness to the table. "Your Dad Was Sad" and "(Going to A) Cruel Country" serve as the emotional keystone to this gently melancholy album. Morén recounts the stinging barbs of small-town life and isolation, so often romanticized in songs that sound just like this. Instead, Morén holds up a mirror, asking what it means to be part of a tight-knit community when some people are never accepted into it.
Holly Lerski – Greek Trilogy
With her Greek Trilogy EP, Lerski continues to find herself while traveling across the globe. These songs of romantic possibilities, their disappointments, and the promise of a new path make this three-song EP feels like a full journey. With two "found audio" interstitials detailing Lerski's little journey, this is a compact project with a lot of bite. Lerski's performances are soulful, while the music combines the breeziness of '90s pop and a deeper folk tradition.
