Arriving on a Tuesday — as we were fortunate enough to have Labor Day off — it's time for another Fresh Picks, because finding new music shouldn't feel like labor. Read on for real music picked out by real people.
For albums, we couldn't say goodbye to So Much For Goodbyes, so you get more Billy Strings. Next, British soul trio Jungle brings the Sunshine and Zach Carpenter of Medium Build is the King of Having Fun. Finally, Vancouver's Empanadas Ilegales take cumbia to the stratosphere.
For songs, Meshell Ndegeocello keeps the covers coming with help from Lianne La Havas. Then Thomas X brings boom bap to Red Lake and Mary Bragg looks at the good — and bad — of what came before.
We took a week off from Picks From '76 to celebrate Dolly Parton, and guess what? We still get a little bit of the late country legend on Emmylou Harris' 1976 gem, Luxury Liner! Can you identify which songs have Dolly's vocals?
Check out this week's suggestions from Music Director Kari Hedlund, Asst. Music Director Malachy Koons and Director of Audience Engagement Julia Schrenkler.
Albums
Album of the Week: Billy Strings - So Much For Goodbyes
For his fifth album, Billy Strings went more traditional than many expected. While Strings has made a name for himself in progressive jamgrass, So Much for Goodbyes grapples with grief over his mother's unexpected death through songs that already sound like bluegrass traditionals, gospels, hoedowns and a few that lean much more into Americana folk-rock territory.
Lyrically, his grief is at the core of the album, as is what home means. For Strings, home is in Michigan and is a place he clearly holds sacred and maybe romanticizes, as we all do. That sense of place kicks off the album in the traditional bluegrass tune "I'm One of Those" with words like "I'm looking for the place I used to live | I've been driving up and down this road | Trying to bring back old memories for one reason or another I let go."
Other classic bluegrass tunes on the album that already sound traditional are "Lay Me Down," featuring Del McCoury and "Mill Town Flood."
One of my favorites from the album, "Live to Tell" features Strings' incredible guitar work, even when put to work in a simple manner. He uses Michigan's cold winters as a metaphor for grief, "Snow keeps falling down on Michigan | The earth is still beneath its icy veil | If I could hold on till the break of day | I'd live to tell the tale."
"Burn the Other End" veers into his signature jamgrass sound, as does "Lucid Daydream," which I half-expected to end up like "Spinning" (from Turmoil and Tinfoil). Instead, it's much more heartbreaking than strange, imagining a conversation with his late mom. His sorrow is palpable in songs like "Still I Crash," a song that seems it was therapeutic for Strings to write and record. It is raw, vulnerable and deeply personal. "Remember to Cry" is grief masked in upbeat bluegrass, and "I Wish I Wanted To" goes country while channeling depression with a wink.
Billy Strings is a revolutionary force in bluegrass and jam music. While this is one of his more straightforward records, it is also one of his richest collections of songs in textures, depth and songwriting. -KH
Jungle - Sunshine
The British band Jungle released "Sunshine" in August, a smooth and delicious serving of progressive soul. I've been queueing the titular single up for that transition time at home when you shed the day for dinner and soft evenings. Part R&B, part dance mix, part "I gotta put this in a playlist for my crush," it feels like a fresh start. As a song it also suits the album, which is a comprehensive package of Jungle's sound.
The band is known for their visual approach to videos and "Sunshine" hits that note. The camera perspective offers a dance in a tightly-choreographed, smooth shoot.
I'm expecting to hear this song, and others from the album, on sound tracks for key moments on the next big tv show.
As a bonus, the band will play an all-ages show on Wednesday, Sept. 9 at the Minneapolis Armory. -JS
Medium Build - King of Having Fun
The latest Medium Build album from Nick Carpenter finds the King of Having Fun sober, medicated and ready to take on what's next. Self-deprecation through confession-style songwriting is often at the core of Medium Build. It's still present in his sixth album but done with a new lens on life and through a bigger, bolder sound that's almost...joyful? "Cone Off" is an immediate "yes" with a funktified beat, and lyrics that are as funny as they are proud of the work he's put in. "You ain't gotta call me up again, track me down | You ain't gotta dress me up, drag me around | You ain't gotta lie to your friends 'bout where he been no more (Come on) | And honey, I'm sorry for the sh*t that I drug you through | Yeah, I was thinking 'bout me and not you | And you ain't gotta jerk on my chain no more." -KH
Empanadas Ilegales - LABORATORIO TROPICAL
This amazingly-named band was one of my favorite discoveries at this summer's Winnipeg Folk Festival, and this new album captures everything that had the festival crowds doing their best cumbia dance time and time again. The Vancouver-based group has roots in Argentina and Colombia, and their cumbia sound is expansive and psychedelic without ever sacrificing groove. Daniel Ruiz's drums, Daniel Hernandez Pinto's bass and Andrea Milagros' maracas keep the rhythm on the floor while Jaime Millan's surf guitar and Jocelyn Waugh's jazzy trumpet take this cumbia into the stratosphere. -MK
Singles
Meshell Ndegeocello - "Don't Look Any Further (ft. Lianne La Havas)"
The latest single is from an upcoming covers album where Ndegeocello will be joined by guests like Brandi Carlile, Moses Sumney, Emily King and Robert Glaspy. This is a jazzified and fresh take on a 1984 funk song originally done by Dennis Edwards. My ears always perk up when I hear Ndegeocello has new music coming out because she's bound to be doing something interesting. Now pair her with Lianne La Havas, who we haven't heard from in a minute? Yes, please and thank you. -KH
Thomas X - "Old School Niiji (ft. Animikii Fallsfeather & BWade)"
Red Lake rapper Thomas X brings the boom bap sounds and educational verses to this standout cut from his latest album, Always Be Brave. Drawing heavily from his Anishinaabe heritage with references to burning sage, braiding his son's hair, giving tobacco and more, the song's classic vibe is brought to life by Animikii Fallsfeather's G-funk chorus and a killer feature from Leech Lake rapper BWade. -MK
Mary Bragg - "Hi-Fi"
"Hi Fi" is a sneak into Bragg's upcoming album Secrets to Strangers, out Oct. 16, 2026. Leaning into more of a folk-rock sound, Bragg thinks about what it means to look back
on life in the "before times" with nostalgia: hours spent riding a bike, unplugged and independent freedom rather than the constant inundation with life as it is today. Simultaneously, she notes how looking back in that romanticized way avoids acknowledging the ills that also went with those times, and an understanding of the ways that we are doing better today. -KH
Pick of '76
Emmylou Harris - Luxury Liner
From the thundering freight train opener of her International Submarine Band cover, it's clear you're in for a treat on Emmylou Harris' fourth album from 1976.
Luxury Liner remains her best selling solo album, with her version of "Pancho & Lefty" (seven years before Willie and Merle took a stab at it) becoming one of her best-known songs.
The album featured a stacked cast of musicians like Dolly Parton, Micky Raphael, Ricky Skaggs and many more alongside her legendary Hot Band, who by themselves are considered one of the greatest country-rock outfits of all time. At a time when session musicians and touring bands were very different, Harris brought her road-tested Hot Band into the studio — and you can hear it.
"Luxury Liner" comes perilously close to careening off the tracks. And Hot Band member Rodney Crowell's "You're Supposed To Be Feeling Good" is brought to life in a way only an artist like Harris — who had already married, had a kid, divorced and spent years toiling as a folk musician before she found success in country music — could do.
The source material is excellent throughout. Chuck Berry's "You Can Never Tell (C'est la Vie)" puts the rock in country-rock. The roots of country are paid homage too with The Louvin Brothers' "When I Stop Dreaming." Finally, A.P. Carter's "Hello Stranger" Harris' second Parsons tribute on the album, "She," is simply stunning.
Luxury Liner has it all — the voice, the band, the songs and the singer's deep connection to them. That's why it's this week's Pick From '76. -MK
