(Photo by Lisa Persson ) It hasn't been too long since we've heard from Lucid VanGuard , the project of Minneapolis' Karl Remus. Last fall, he put out Golden Eye Empyrean , an EP of sepia-drenched pop songs; on new single "Snow White," melancholy rules over every note. While Lucid VanGuard has primarily been a solo project, "Snow White" hones in on sparse sounds and loneliness. Acoustic plucks and windswept lap steel welcome you into the song's world. Overwhelming emptiness draws new focus to Remus' pleading vocals, augmented only by harmonies from Bailey Cogan of 26 BATS! There is inescapable beauty in the somberness. "Snow White" ebbs and flows with Remus' instrumentation, never overwhelming the simple sentiments at its core. Listen to and/or buy "Snow White" below. Snow White by Lucid VanGuard

Things have changed up a bit since we last heard from Zaq Baker . The Minneapolis piano rocker teased towards his sophomore record (titled  Good Kid Manic Summer  at the time) with a pair of video   performances in the winter, but now his plans have been adjusted. Instead of a spring release for Good Kid , Baker is planning to release a different album, titled Cardio , sometime before the end of 2020. "I Wanna Be Your Night Owl" is our first taste. He retains a sense of youthful earnestness on the song, which shouldn't be surprising given the teenage melodrama that has informed his music since 2017's Housewarming  EP. Baker describes the song as telling "a simple story of yearning, a little crush, and staying up late." All of this is immediately evident from the title alone. A veritable murderer's row of collaborators help enliven the piano-driven elegance of Baker's storytelling. Musicians from all across the Twin Cities contribute — Kremblems ...