MINNESOTA SOUND REVIEWS - 9/24/2025
Reviews by: Alexandra Haynes, Writer @xalexonlinex
Edited by: Andrew Perrizo, Owner/Editor @melodicnoisemedia
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Fortunate Suns “River”
“River” released first as a single in February 2025, later as track 3 of 6 on Fortunate Suns’ Last Train Out EP in April of the same year. It’s a breezy, spirited country rock song, with sunshinin’ electric riffs soaring over jaunty percussion and warm timbered vocals. “River” centers itself in desire without excess - “One day I might find me a woman / A woman just like me / A woman who wants nothin’ more than peace and harmony … On these river banks we’ll raise a … family / And when I die in that muddy water, it’s where they bury me.” These aspirations, towards “peace and harmony,” love and family, true companionship emboldened by a full and simple life, are well cradled by the borderline groovy swing of melodies that hints at Fortunate Suns’ more psychedelic leanings in other tracks. It’s worth noting that on Last Train Out, “River” transitions seamlessly into “Rain (Interlude)” — those sorts of production choices are something I adore, and it makes it all the more worth listening to this song in the EP, sequentially.
Jackson Atkins “Rodney Mullen”
Indie and acoustic, Jackson Atkins’ “Rodney Mullen” (from the EP Expectations, released in May 2025) embodies the singer-songwriter spirit, honest and bare; it’s beautiful in its openness and its stripped back performance. With just a guitar, harmonica, and his voice, Atkins soothes the listener’s ear with his gentle, one-manned clarity. “Rodney Mullen” personifies the actions of the skateboarder with the same name, turning his life, the act of skating, into a meditative and poetic reflection on moving through memory, space, and the rain. The song is almost a lullaby, the raw recording close, and soft, and full, as though he is singing directly to you.
Glass Eyes “Faceless”
Twangy bass and vicious fry screaming pair and tango with hypnotic, melodic riffs, all baked in fuzz, as power metal influences bleed through the jazzy, aggressive composition that is “Faceless.” Glass Eyes match their talents to a wide array of metal skills, escalating throughout towards that cinematic quality that gives power metal its pizazz. When they pull back, clearly rearing up ready to pounce, they do so with a gritty, calculated precision, clean vocals at times melting into a moan more like the vocals of an alt-metal band, akin to, say, Chino Moreno of Deftones. They rarely stay there, though, preferring to whip back into full-chested balladry, doubling down too on the paired brutal vocals which take turns emphasizing and pushing the boundaries of the song forward. “Faceless” is the band’s latest single, having been released in June 2025.
Zaq Baker “PETULANT”
“PETULANT” (released in August 2025) reminded me markedly of the electro-pop experiments of Bo Burnham’s “INSIDE.” However, where Burnham’s focus may have been comedic relief — it was still somewhat baked into the commentary, satire, or self-depreciation in every song — Zaq Baker leans wholly on sincerity instead from the get-go. “PETULANT” is autobiographical, inherently vulnerable in its narrative, with Baker and his mental health as the primary subjects. This one is worth several listens to catch on to everything Baker chooses to share; a lot of information is melodically spoken, cleanly and theatrically enunciated, but given faithfully with no details spared in his reflections. You may find your anxieties and self-perceptions mirrored here, as Baker is exposing his. Comfortingly relatable, then, “PETULANT,” with its many layers of synth-infused sound, is a like a warm blanket to those of us who must always face their fears.
Nobody from Nowhere “The End”
Nobody from Nowhere craft atmospheric ballads, and do so well. “The End,” track eight of nine on their eponymous album released in August 2025, likens death to the conclusion of a fairytale, “The End” being our final moments of life. With a fae like charm, spearheaded by the looping rhymes sung in a strong hush, this track evokes the sight of bards, elves, imps, gathering to coax away our protagonist for one last journey through a mystical wood spattered with glowing blossoms from otherworldly plant life, brimming with some forbidden knowledge. Knowing that the speaker is guiding them - or us - to our deaths cements the solemn note at play, befitting the dignified and serious melodies which have a hauntingly gorgeous tone, overall. When the electric guitar solos sing through the bridge, they are a beautiful contrast to the otherwise folksy instrumentation, without clashing at all. They feel like a eulogy to life, sparkling and vibrant, before the song returns to its tranquilizing magic.
Deep Dark Lake "Waltz of the Wolves"
Released in July 2025, “Waltz of the Wolves” is Deep Dark Lake’s latest single. It winds itself up slowly, a nostalgic clamor of Midwest emo and indie folk-rock. The metaphor of the “Waltz of the Wolves” seems to speak of breakdowns, of repeating negative patterns of behavior… that certain crashes are inevitable, natural, despite their darkness or the way they provoke fear (“They’ve got all the deer runnin’ scared.”) Cloaking the exact action in the metaphor of the wolves, but confessing it’s “the second time it’s happened this year,” Deep Dark Lake utilize their emotive vocalist and a simple but skilled instrumental (notably growing in complexity, eventually bursting forward with full force drumming, distorted rock guitar, and sharp keys) to emphasize a poetic despair and acceptance of their circumstances. Dejected, but not necessarily defeated, Deep Dark Lake end their story with an observation of the “sun [being] in cahoots with some kid again, burning ants with a magnifying glass,” a zoom-in on existential nihilism and destruction as an organic occurrence.
