Each month, we’re rounding up the latest local music that’s been on repeat. Follow our Spotify playlist to keep up with new music releases from Minnesota.
“Streets of Minneapolis” by Bruce Springsteen
Minneapolis got a special guest this past week at First Avenue during Tom Morello and Rise Against’s Defend Minnesota benefit concert. Bruce Springsteen shared his new single, “Streets of Minneapolis,” written in response to the ICE occupancy in Minnesota. The song is a gritty, evocative piece that feels like a late-night walk through snowy city avenues. Springsteen’s voice carries both weariness and resolve, painting vivid scenes of winter cold, city lights, and people burdened by hardship. The lyrics mention specific streets and moments, almost like a journal entry set to music, giving the listener a raw and personal look at life in an urban landscape. There’s a mix of struggle, memory, and resilience that makes you feel both grounded in a place and invited to reflect on your own journey.
“Winter Martyrs” by Andrew Broder
“Winter Martyrs” by Andrew Broder feels like a raw, urgent soundscape born from grief and resistance. It was improvised and recorded in late January 2026 after the executions of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis, capturing a moment heavy with loss and defiance. The title evokes both cold and remembrance, suggesting a blend of mourning and resolve. There’s a sense of communal memory and a haunting presence—sonic shards of a winter marked by pain but also by a refusal to forget those taken too soon.
“On Our Own” by The Cactus Blossoms
Written in 2025 for a not-yet-released album, “On Our Own” by The Cactus Blossoms seems more relevant than ever. The track pairs bluesy country warmth with unsettling urgency. Jack Torrey and Page Burkum’s plainspoken verses warn how quickly safety erodes, while chiming guitars and close harmonies soften the blow. The chorus circles isolation like a mantra, turning loneliness into shared recognition. Even their darkest admission lands as confession, not surrender, because the song insists on readiness and resolve. It’s a weary road song for anxious times—gentle, human, and stubbornly determined to keep holding on through storms, winters, doubts, nights together.
“Fuck This” by Jeremy Messersmith
Jeremy Messersmith is a cheeky fellow and his song, “Fuck This,” hits like a visceral outpouring—raw, unfiltered, and defiantly emotional, yet delivered in an acerbic tone. In just over a minute, Messersmith strings together blunt, profane lines that express frustration and outrage with systems, people, and circumstances that feel oppressive and unjust. The track was written in response to what is happening in Minnesota and serves as both catharsis and protest. Stripped-down yet intense, it captures a moment of collective anger and refusal to stay silent.
“Who Is She to You?” by Lamaar
Lamaar’s “Who Is She to You?” is a stark, introspective piano song that turns grief into a quiet rallying cry. The singer came home from work, not even knowing Renee Good’s name, and delivered this track on his piano. Centered on questions of identity and worth, the lyrics—”what was she to you?”—give voice to bewilderment and loss in the wake of Good’s killing by an ICE agent in Minneapolis earlier this year. The gentle piano contrasts with visceral lines like “we ain’t scared no more,” creating a space of mournful reflection that feels deeply personal yet pointed at broader pain and accountability. It’s elegiac and defiant, asking listeners to hold the memory of those lost.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source mspmag.com ’
