MINNESOTA SOUND REVIEWS - 10/14/26
Reviews by: Alexandra Haynes, Writer @xalexonlinex
Edited by: Andrew Perrizo, Owner/Editor @melodicnoisemedia
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My Cousin Dallas “Strange Frequency”
“Strange Frequency” released in May 2026 on My Cousin Dallas’ album The Many Moods Of (stylized, then, on the album cover as The Many Moods of My Cousin Dallas - punny). This autobiographic tale about fleeing from potential, growing familiarity is delivered with a twang, a rock beat underscoring everything to line-up snarly, punctuating guitar riffs forming complimentary melodies before brightening up on overdrive to provide some cool electric solos. The bass line is funky underneath, stable and emphatic. The song’s muse, the “Strange Frequency” that “makes [him] wanna leave,” appears to be identified as a force resulting from trauma (“I never had a stable home,”) that, by the end, he is trying to negotiate with to break the pattern — “ … I always leave / Don’t make me leave / I don’t wanna leave.”
Oscar Oranday “Agosto”
Oranday brings us a playful ode to a former lover where the separation isn’t so cut and dry. Singing in Spanish about whether “to wait or to move on,” in “Agosto” he folkily asks for them back atop amped up, crackling distorted guitar which surges forward; underneath is a piano melody that’s a heavy-handed twinkle. Choral vocals join in before the song’s end, the other singers coming in as though over a conference call on different mics, adding organic, DIY charm. This song released as a single in August 2026.
Metasota “Memory Lane”
Kitted out with old school record scratches and a glittery melodic refrain (which is catchy as hell), Metasota’s “Memory Lane” is track two of seven on the album YESTERTOMORROW, released in February 2026. Well produced and with a crisp flow that’s precisely enunciated, this song makes its literal trip down “Memory Lane” an extremely pleasant one as we hear stories from Metasota’s younger years littered with humor and pride. It opens with Metasota talking to us about his time working at Memory Lanes, setting the stage for the song weaving the past into the present and calling back on the experiences that make him who he is today. It closes in a similarly intimate fashion, with what sounds like a voicemail recording about how someone’s time with him after work was “always a vibe.”
Midwest James “ROLLERCOASTER”
We’re treated to more solid production with Midwest James’ “ROLLERCOASTER,” the opening track on the artist's Ready Up, Pt. 1 EP released in January, 2026. James’ bars often flood in with scathing, impactful gotchas that bounce out more humorously, showcasing his lyrical dexterity with puns: “In God you trust/But your faith in that paper, you soul is for purchase/Down for success, I virtually hop in the hybrid then meet it in person.” The flow is real, seemingly effortless over a beat that’s quirkily dark. The chorus is catchy, a simple metaphor that paints a picture: “Rollercoaster, are you ready for the drop? / I won’t hold ya, it feel better at the top.” The last melodic break introduces terrific sincerity, with the appearance of an evocative string section scoring the change of pace: “Minus the ego, I grew up left field of my home right / Bright smiles, skin dark as a long night, my dad’s replica / A clone life …”
Rebecca Aadland “God Stuff 2026”
Emotive, lifting strings weave themselves amongst talkative piano melodies as this worship song, a reproduction of one of Aadland’s earlier pieces, seeks to contradicts what she says people claim about God: “Some say that you’re a white man in the sky / With power to damn us when we die / An angry, narcissistic guy, who only speaks through books or priests … You must be more.” While the critiques of religion she describes and sets out to debunk are common and understandable, Aadland’s approach is intimate and hopeful, describing finding God in joyous places and everyday interactions with the natural world (“Take me through meadows of your grace / And speak through the breezes on my face”). She gives the omnipotent deity benefit of the doubt through unwavering, optimistic faith and delivers it with gentle smoke in her voice. “God Stuff 2026” gives tribute to the power of prayer with a layered recitation of various praises around three minutes in. It was released as a single in April 2026.
CHURCH CAMP, Professor Fresh “Happy Campers”
As if producing the lovechild of Hollywood Undead and Marilyn Manson, CHURCH CAMP dabble in an industrial-soaked, metal-boned version of horrorcore with “Happy Campers,” where fantasies of killing your lamest friends run amuck, the storytelling akin to the likes of ICP and Eminem in his edgiest days. “They drink all my beer and smoke all my bud / And never once even paid for drugs / They don’t write their raps and they don’t give a fuck / They don’t get me back when I spring for lunch / But that’s gonna end … I’m gonna kill them all / I’m gonna fill a graveyard with all of my friends / And visit when I wanna spend time with them / They won’t talk back so our friendship never ends.” Vividly aggro but undeniably comedic, this collaboration with rapper Professor Fresh is impossible for me not to enjoy as it crunks out its hyperbolic depictions of getting your way via extremely unserious mass murder.
