You Should Know
Only 24 years young, Minnesota resident Haley Bonar's country-inspired brand of folk has garnered her some acclaim. Her 2006 release Lure The Fox earned her a Best American Roots Recording award in the 2006 Minnesota Music Awards, where she also received recognition as Best American Roots Artist. Back now with a new release entitled Big Star on Minneapolis-based Afternoon Records, Bonar strays from the downtempo fare of past releases and offers her most compelling album to date. Pulling guitar, melotron, and keyboard duties, Bonar breezily navigates through the album's 11 songs. Clocking in at a short-running 31 minutes, Big Star, which was mixed by engineer Tchad Blake (Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Pearl Jam), still packs a punch. Thematically, Bonar's new album revolves around abstract ideals that inspire both desire and distaste: fame, success, love. While musically Big Star is palatable enough to serve as background music at your local coffee shop, don't be fooled by Bonar's seemingly carefree sound. There is depth lurking underneath all these simple folk songs. Having already shared stages with the likes of Neko Case, Richard Buckner, and Arcade Fire and contributed to Andrew Bird's mind-blowing 2007 album Armchair Apocrypha, Bonar's Big Star solidifies her as a songwriter worth paying close attention to. -- Capt. Obvious
Listen:
MP3: Haley Bonar - Big Star
MP3: Haley Bonar - Something Great
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