FAIR OAKS

Formed in two cities founded on the intrinsic turns and tails of one of Earth’s longest waterways, FAIR OAKS from Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota, has made an album that aims to shine a solar-hued spotlight on nature in the urban environment.

The group’s debut full length THIS IS THE RIVER is bookended with a basket’s worth of texturally and lyrically dense fuzzy pop songs that guard the album’s centerpiece three-part titular track. Like spilt oil paints, THIS IS THE RIVER is a sprawling and polychromatic piece that at times gallops and at others whirs south along the banks of the Mighty Mississippi.

Made up of singer-songwriter ANDY ULSETH, multi-instrumentalists ERIC CARLSON and MOLLY MANNING, as well as bassist MITCH SCHUMER and percussionist MATTHEW LEONARD, FAIR OAKS has crafted an enthralling and elegant debut release that will reward multiple listens.