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, or check out our Spotify playlist, updated every week. In April 2024, The Current compiled the first Minnesota Music Month Scouting Report with votes from the local music industry.

Dot Operator

Indie-pop band Dot Operator is a Minneapolis six-piece featuring McCoy Seitz, Sophia Catanoso, Leng Moua, Dillon Marchus, Mark Stewart, and Victor Pokorny. The band released their debut EP in the summer of 2023, which combines “melancholic lyrics, dual vocals, and powerful melodic hooks.” Released in November, their full-length album, Channel Changer, includes the stand-out track “Bother,” an easy-going track that asks many existential questions and ends in a hypnotic guitar loop. -NT

embalmingEva

Duluth’s embalmingEva consists of two childhood friends with undeniable chemistry performing refined electronica music. Their latest singles  “Scared of Me” and “Mouth Wide Open” are characterized by whispered and synced vocals, temperate instrumental layers, and mesmerizing production. Visual layers also come into play with fearless alternative fashion and elegant choreography. Most recently, embalmingEva performed at the Minneapolis Institute of Art’s exhibition event Dark Visions. Their first album will drop on Jan. 11, 2025. -Diane

Zacc Harris

Zacc Harris is a Twin Cities-based musician specializing in jazz guitar and composition. His recent album, Chasing Shadows, is a smooth listen with warm tones to keep us cozy this December. Brought to life by saxophone, piano, and guitar, the melodies of “Catalyst” float effortlessly over complicated rhythms and grooves. You can find him playing around the Twin Cities in various ensembles such as his project, the Zacc Harris Group, as well as Atlantis Quartet, at venues like the Dakota and Berlin. -AD

Val Son

Val Son’s mellow indie-rock, Americana-adjacent sound parallels the likes of Low and Sharon Van Etten. It longs for connection in a head full of despair. In the Minneapolis band’s noteworthy new single “Closer,” Emily Mohrbacher’s self-effacing lines such as “old friends, they act like strangers / I did the work to teach them how,” culminate to “I wish that you were closer to me.” Check out their second full-length record Way Out, which was recorded live as a full band. -Diane

Truman Beck

Truman Beck began focusing on writing and recording music for their solo project just two years ago. After sitting with a collection of recorded demos for some time, Beck decided to release “Cj. Colorado” as their first single. They felt it was the most meaningful song to share with listeners. Beck’s gorgeous and gentle voice conveys feeling hopeful, restless, and lost — all at the same time. As the acoustic guitar echoes a haunting melody, raw and simple production allows the song’s honest theme of addiction to shine through via sincere lyrics and melodies. -AD

Cariah Brinaé

Minnesota R&B singer/songwriter Cariah Brinaé has been releasing music since 2010, and singing all her life. Her single “Tragedy” was written during one of the lowest parts of her life, and served as a means for her to express herself. The track was produced by Rob Cinque, also known as CinSay. “Tragedy” is vulnerable and takes us inside Cariah’s deep thoughts navigating heartbreak while showcasing her powerful voice. -NT

Greentop

Greentop is a five-piece indie rock group originally from Rochester, Minnesota. Self-described as “road trip rock,” their recent album Meadowlark reflects on home, life changes, and family. The group is named after a Missouri town where lead singer and writer Isaac Jahns passed through on many long car rides between his hometown of Rochester and college town of Columbia, Missouri. The album’s lyrical themes and sonic influences are also inspired by the band’s recent move to Minneapolis. Basking in raw vocals and energetic and melodic guitar riffs, Greentop may interest fans of Pinegrove and Hippo Campus. -AD

Pew Pew

Hailing from northeast Minneapolis, post-punk band Pew Pew (FKA Total Gaze) released the full-length they crumble in November. The single “Crumbles” resonantly balances interpersonal struggle with global calamity. It raises the emotional stakes while holding a mirror to self and society. Collaborating with Sean Chaucer to record and mix, along with Ali Jafaar of Ecstattic Studio to master the new record, the album doubles down on their hyper-creative tendencies, discovering new levels of their prismatic music while infusing the lyrics with unflinching honesty. -YV

Doug Otto

Doug Otto’s new album, The Witness, arrived in late November. The single “Familiar Stranger” is a life-affirming portrait of growing older without losing heart. Otto’s expansive songwriting adds surprises throughout the album. He will be sharing his new work — produced by Brian Thavis and mastered by Hilary Thavis — with some cozy shows, first with his band Otto and the Getaways at Dusty’s Bar in northeast Minneapolis on Dec. 8 and North Folk Winery in Harris, Minnesota, on Dec. 27 with Hilary Thavis. -YV

Flavor Crystals

Minneapolis-based Flavor Crystals’ trance-inducing music has engaged audiences worldwide since 2005. Similar to much of their early work, the psychedelic rock band’s sixth record, Gone Six, is elegant in noise, hushed in verse, and moody in tone. Think Pink Floyd’s intimate Dark Side of the Moon meets Low’s delicate slowcore album I Could Live In Hope meets the fuzzy shoegaze of Jesus and the Mary Chain’s Psychocandy. Gone Six was recorded at iconic Minnesota studio Pachyderm, “shaped by sudden losses, surprise findings, unwanted fires and new hearts. Glued together with musical trust.” -Diane