Welcome to The Scouting Report, a monthly list of 10 Minnesota artists with exciting new projects, as curated by our local music team. If you like these picks, check out The Local Show on Sundays from 7 p.m. to midnight, hosted by Diane.

Riotgrrrldarko

Though it’s impossible to label her music as a single genre, Minneapolis-based artist Riotgrrrldarko fuses rap, hyperpop, and alternative rock with her new project KISS THE RING. She teams up with Twin Cities artist k3ko on “wtvr i want.” In an interview with Carbon Sound, Riotgrrrldarko mentioned that she never had any intention of becoming a rapper, but was just making videos of herself freestyling for fun and uploading them to her Facebook. To her surprise, people started reaching out asking her to play shows. Since then, Riotgrrrldarko has been making waves as an energetic and iconic voice in the Minneapolis music scene, playing shows at 7th Street Entry, Green Room, and the ITS festival in 2021. -AD

Uranium Club

Uranium Club have been called “weirdos” by what appears to be every hip music publication in America. Surely the term fits, but I might add that the four-piece eccentric punk band are also nerds. For example, for the new record’s album art, they say they developed a giant protractor to photograph hundreds of red-poncho-wearing volunteers in a 120-foot wide spiral. What does it signal? Perhaps we’ll find out when Infants Under the Bulb, Uranium Club’s first LP in five years, drops on March 1. The first single, “Small Grey Man,” is defined by thin, treble-pumped guitar tones pulsing underneath a panicked singer delivering coded, disorienting lyrics: “I make myself small / I wanna be special / The least special of all!” -Diane

Prize Horse

Prize Horse’s sound lives at the intersection of emo, shoegaze, grunge, and doom metal. Vocally, singer/guitarist Jake Beitel is decidedly emo in his sullen yet melodic delivery. Instrumentally, Beitel, drummer Jon Brenner, and bassist Olivia Johnson are satisfyingly swampy, heavy, and fuzzy. Nevertheless, the music is powerful in its rhythmically dynamic and explorative appeal — often shifting from spacious to explosive.  Prize Horse’s debut LP, Under Sound, releases Feb. 16 via Chicago’s New Morality Zine. Catch them live at 7th Street Entry on Feb. 22. -Diane

Porcupine

Minneapolis indie rock group Porcupine’s recordings are brimming with live noise and energy the quartet brings into their shows. The band has evolved over the years and shifted their sound around many times. On “Character Flaws,” their first single off the new album Our Chemistry is a Tightrope is a dogged and high-energy lesson in punk rock with a modern twist. The group will debut their latest studio album on Feb. 11, followed by a set at Big Turn Music Festival in Red Wing on Feb. 17, and a Minneapolis album release show at Mortimer’s on March 2. -YV

SoulFlower

Emerging Minneapolis artist SoulFlower is relatively new to the music scene, and has participated in the incredibly talented collective The Cherry Pit. SoulFlower writes her own music and plays the bass, and describes her lyrics as “filled with mysticism, questions, self-reflection and poetic dialogue.” In 2023, SoulFlower shared a few thoughts on how George Floyd’s murder and the uprising in 2020 affected her musical journey and wanting to connect to community. Earlier this year, she took part in Radio K’s Frostbite residency at 7th St Entry. Her single “Passion” was released early 2023, clearly displaying SoulFlower’s vocal and lyrical skills. We’re excited to see where SoulFlower’s talents take her. -NT

runo plum

Indie-folk singer-songwriter runo plum’s recent EP earlier from ’20 may sound familiar to some dedicated fans. These are some of the first songs she released on Bandcamp and SoundCloud in 2021 when she began sharing her music on social media. She recently re-recorded and produced the EP in collaboration with fellow indie musician Philip Brooks. Born and raised in the forests of rural Minnesota, runo plum has written most of her music in Minnesota whereas recording and production take place at Brooks’ home studio in Germany. Revisiting older songs seems to be a recurring theme in runo plum’s practice —her next EP, softer, comes out Feb. 23 and features five songs written in 2021 that were never recorded. We can’t wait to hear more of her floating melodies and gentle, nature-inspired lyrics. -AD

Lerado Khalil

Lerado Khalil describes himself as “mildly happy,” which gives us some insight into his latest body of work, Dog Days, released in late 2023. The track “Can’t Come Back” is a stripped-down piano instrumental, in which Lerado shares an emotional memory that begins with the line “I sent a text when I should’ve called” repeated over and over. Based in St. Paul, Lerado Khalil is a reflection of a younger generation in hip-hop using their creativity to express themselves however they want, no matter how abstract. -NT  

Luke Enyeart

Minneapolis-based Luke Enyeart spent the majority of his 20s touring as a lead guitarist for various artists such as Ryan Bingham, Ani Difranco, Katie Pruitt, and Yola. Enyeart’s solo music is all his own, though. He describes his influences as 70s yacht rock, funk, folk, R&B, blues, and lo-fi indie. He moved back to his hometown of Minneapolis and released his album PHASES in 2023. The track “Changes” is a perfect blend of his influences for an “easy listening” track that encapsulates the hardships that come with changes and when to recognize that it might be a little hard to cope alone. -NT

Buddy McLain

Reminiscent of 2000s-era hip-hop/R&B with its polished sound and playful lyricism, Buddy McLain’s latest “Where the Love At” is a feel-good single with a positive message. The song is especially highlighted by the gorgeous, Ashanti-esque vocals of River Smith. McLain has been a fixture in the Twin Cities hip-hop since the late ‘90s, working with artists such as Prince, Mint Condition, and Sounds of Blackness. Two years ago, his son Amir Locke was fatally shot by Minneapolis police in a no-knock warrant. In response, McLain’s taken action on a national level to advocate for justice against police brutality. -Diane

Charlie Parr

Duluth folk, blues, and roots legend Charlie Parr is so ingrained in the music community that it’s hard to think of Minnesota artists without having him near the top of that list. Parr is more a storyteller than anything else: his social media posts wax poetic on mundane things like finding he had moved up in age bracket and the rising rate of his car insurance. There is a talent in taking the ordinary passages in a day and turning it into prose, and on his latest album, Little Sun, he leans into those experiences again. The first single, “Boombox,” puts a new spin on Parr’s views about neighborhoods and people living their lives. Little Sun will be released in early March and followed by a national tour that ends at First Ave. on May 3. -YV