Tennis

After their critically-acclaimed album, Yours Conditionally, Tennis recently released a new EP. The iconic couple dropped We Can Die Happy just three days ago, on November 10. Having spent a year traveling the Atlantic Ocean in a sailboat, the band draws inspiration from the experience and the resulting sounds fill the EP (and all of their albums) with impassioned lyrics with an easy-going sound.

According to a recent interview, the song “No Exit” was inspired by their antipathy for high-tempo music: “Patrick and I are devoutly mid-tempo songwriters, a fact I wanted to remedy by creating a dancey 120 bpm sort of thing that appeals to my persistent sense of malaise.” In support of the new EP, they are embarking on a nation-wide tour and stopping at the Fine Line Music Cafe on January 11.

Spinning Coin

A band’s debut album serves as an exposé of sorts; it creates a basis for the sound the band wants to insinuate to their audience. Spinning Coin’s debut album, Permo, which was released on November 10, the listener is immersed in a range of songs from easy-going to the emotional cusp of heavy rock.

Unsuprisingly, the four-piece band has two lead singers who have very different tastes in music: Sean Armstrong and Jack Mellin. Each write their own songs, which were combined to form the album. The difference in their taste is evident, with Armstrong writing the easy-going songs (“Sleepless”), and Mellin penning the heavier songs (“Magdalene”). The up-and-coming band from Scotland has not planned a tour, but with the success of their album, they will likely hop across the pond to Minneapolis in the near future.  

Jim James

Fresh off the success of his recent solo album, 2016’s Eternally Even, indie legend Jim James will release his fourth solo album and second covers album on December 8. From fronting seminal bands like My Morning Jacket and Monsters of Folk, to performing on TV shows like Roadies and American Dad, Jim James draws from a wide array of experiences to craft music that has gained a considerable following.

Tribute to 2 echoes the approach of James’s initial tribute album to George Harrison, which was released in 2009.  This time around, James tackles the output of  the Beach Boys and Bob Dylan. He explains in an interview how he “ripped apart” a cover of “By the Time I get to Phoenix” from Isaac Hayes and songs from the Beach Boys and put them together to create his version of “I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times.” Constantly on the road with one of his many associated bands, expect James to pass through the Twin Cities in the near future.