Aorta Borealis
Self-Released, 2022
9/10
A longtime Minneapolis musician who spent much time in the early 2000’s playing in bands, the singer-songwriter and guitarist Jesse Norell makes a return to music here with an album about his daughter’s journey through two open heart surgeries.
“What To Tell You” opens the listen with a soothing ambience, where nearly New Age ideas are present amid the dreamy guitar and gentle singing that welcomes Chris Mason’s cozy keys, and “Together” follows with more focus on drumming thanks to Steve Goold’s agile playing alongside soaring vocals and a thicker appeal that touches on alt-rock.
In the middle Norell’s interpretation of Sunny Day Real Estate’s “How It Feels To Be Something On” is quite interesting, and retains all the emotion of the original but with crunchy moments to complement the sublime beauty, while “Recovery” steps towards electro-pop territory with its swift moments of scrappy musicianship and precise adventurousness.
Approaching the end, “Ode To Luigi” alternates between loud and soft textures of melodic indie-pop, and “Welcome To Sydney” exits with Clint Phillips on bass and Goold’s well timed drums that suit Norell’s smooth singing and Keri Norell’s soulful backing vocals.
An extremely accomplished listen that also embraces cello (Ed Harper) and viola/violin (Katherine Sullivan), Norell is well versed in indie-rock, alt-rock and modern-pop ideas, and they’re all fleshed out with wordplay that couldn’t be closer to his heart.
Travels well with: Chris Castino- Brazil; Preston Gunderson- Fall