For singer and songwriter Siri Undlin, leader of the Minneapolis band Humbird, her mastery of folk music sets the stage for the group’s critically acclaimed album Still Life. Siri and her Humbird bandmates create a brilliant hybrid that strives to make sense of a fragmented world. Still Life, which was released October 15, 2021, via Green Thumb and available on CD, LP and all music digital platforms, is a bold album with a big heart. You could call Still Life a letter addressed to the future—it’s about survival and kitchen utensils, taco trucks, a pink bicycle sitting on a sidewalk. Indeed, Still Life stays grounded in the reality of domestic life, but it occupies a timeless space. Siri wrote Still Life in her yellow bedroom and took the songs across the hallway to the room where her friend and producer Adelyn “Addie” Strei recorded them. They experimented with synth sounds, woodwinds and jazzy grooves, creating an album that curves the time-space continuum of Americana. The critics have recognized Still Life’s unique qualities. As Music in Minnesota says about the album, “Still Life is a wishing well that is constructed for everyone to gather around and toss your penny in….the album is a reflection of deep friendships, artistic respect, and a love of togetherness.” Siri Undlin recorded Still Life with drummer Peter Quirsfeld and bassist Pat Keen along with Adelyn Strei, herself an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, and a brace of supporting players. Sharing a house in the Minneapolis neighborhood that saw the 2020 protests over the death of George Floyd, Siri and Adelyn also dealt with their individual cases of COVID. They got through it, and Still Life is a triumph for Humbird as the work of a committed band. As Siri says about the process, “I write the songs; I write the lyrics and the chords; and I have ideas about how I want it to sound. But ultimately, my bandmates are the experts on their instruments, and they have great input on how an arrangement should go.” Still Life, like the band’s acclaimed 2019 debut album Pharmakon, stands as a testament to Siri’s songcraft and the band’s advanced folk style. Folk Alley called Pharmakon “an absolutely hypnotic listening experience,” while Atwood Magazine noted how it embodied “the idiosyncrasies of folk and Americana music wrapped in a gentle rebellion.” Pharmakon’s release garnered millions of online streams and a wide range of accolades. More recently, Still Life has received enthusiastic praise from the folk world, lauded at the 2021 Kerrville Folk Fest— Humbird performed at Kerrville in September 2021— as one of the fest’s New Folk Winners. No Depression highlighted Still Life as one of the top album releases for the week of October 10, 2021. Minneapolis Public Radio, The Current 89.FM, featured the single track “Plum Sky” as the Song of the Day, and the ‘Still Life’ album, as one of the Top Albums of 2021. Still Life offers solace, joy and energy—all qualities we need right now. In a time of extreme isolation, fear, and uncertainty, Humbird’s latest music record is the sound of surprise and the most fruitful kind of collaboration. “These songs have been a healing process— a home. I hope that Still Life will be that for other people, too.” Humbird has been selected as an Official Showcase Artist for Folk Alliance International taking place in May 2022.