I listen to a lot of artists and songs. There’s a lot of talented people out there making music. My preference is country, but I will listen to anything that is good music.
When I hit play on Humbird’s forthcoming album called “Pharmakon,” I found something unique and interesting. The Minneapolis-based indie-folk band’s album, which is going to be released on August 30, finds its greatest strength in storytelling.
That shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, considering Humbird’s Siri Undlin grew up as the daughter of a Lutheran pastor and a trial lawyer. The power of telling strong stories were part of her upbringing. and she’s been writing songs from an early age. The depth of the songs on the Pharmakon album are impressive. While Pharmakon is Humbird’s debut album, the band also released a double EP in 2017. The new album marks a growth from their previous work both sonically and in terms of depth of songwriting.
Initially, I wasn’t sure what the album’s title meant. The opening line of the song is, “I’ll be your pharmakon.” I’d never heard of a pharmakon before. A pinned post on the band’s Facebook page defines the word: a poison, cure, spell, charm, scapegoat, a dye or color, the written word. In addition to the title, I love the word choice..
Another song on the album is “Eve Boards A Train,” a song in which she imagined Eve has been kicked out of the Garden of Eden and into America in the present day. In the song, Eve is writing a letter to someone from a train.
Undlin said she was deeply involved in the church community and she joined an Irish band when she was in middle school. “I became obsessed with traditional Irish songs,” she said. “I think that really formed how I approached writing melodies and what I look for in a powerful melody,” Undlin added that she was inspired by more contemporary indie rock as well.
Undlin said it was long journey for her to step into the role of bandleader and songwriter. Although there are themes of strong women and independence in the songs on the album, she said she didn’t set out to send a message with the record in any way.
Undlin said that she loved writing the songs. There aren’t many artists who can write all their own material and still deliver a solid album from beginning to end. I am impressed that Humbird wrote all of these songs. While Undlin is extremely talented, she is still relatively early in her career. I look forward to seeing what comes next.
Humbird will be touring in September, October and November as a trio on consisting of Undlin, Pat Keen on upright bass and Peter Quirsfeld on drums. “We all met each other through various mutual friends in the Minneapolis area,” Undlin said. Keen and Undlin had previously toured together in other bands.
Minneapolis may not be the first city most people think of as a major music city, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot of opportunities for musicians there. “Part of me feels like there is a lot of opportunity in places that aren’t the most famous music cities,” Undlin said, adding that Minneapolis has incredible community of musicians. “I do love the fact that Minneapolis is a pretty well-kept secret,” she said.
Undlin said social media is an awesome tool for independent musicians. She said she tries to be as active on social media, while still being healthy with it. Humbird can be found on Facebook, Twitter and Instragram. The band’s website is www.humbirdmusic.com.