Now, I’m a Midwest boy at heart, so it gives me great pleasure to introduce Minneapolis-based One For The Team to the Muffin Bakery. I fortuitously ordered their new EP from their website a few weeks ago and had almost forgotten about it until I came home a few days ago to find a brightly colored envelope bearing my name. I quickly put down the (insert funny item of your choosing) I was carrying and ripped open the envelope – five minutes later the jams were flowing, and they haven’t stopped since.

So who are we listening to? The Team is signed to Afternoon Records and is made up of all-star players Ian Anderson (also the founder of Afternoon Recs), Grace Fiddler, Elliot Manthey and Jacob Huelste.  Previous efforts include Good Boys Don’t Make Noise released in 2006 and Build It Up, released in the ‘08.  But the reason I’m here today is because of the new EP, Build A Garden. Released only very recently in a limited run of 500 discs (don’t worry it’s also available digitally), the EP features four songs from Build It Up re-arranged and re-recorded and four new songs. In addition to the music, which I’ll get to in a second, one thing I love about this band/label is the personal touch they added to my order. Not only was the CD hand numbered (77/500), but tucked inside the slipcase was a handwritten note addressed to me that read “Thanks for being a part of this” signed “Team” (see super low quality pic below). Simple yet oddly powerful – I knew that this band was something special before even hearing a minute of their music.

Oh yeah, the music. Only on rotation here for a short while now, Build A Garden already strikes me as the perfect accompaniment to the changing of the seasons. The sound is harmonious, sometimes minimalistic, yet always intimate – not surprising given that the EP was recorded in the band’s apartment and engineered, mixed and produced by Anderson entirely in his bedroom. The lyrics are simultaneously honest and haunting, just take a listen below to ‘Best Supporting Actress’ and it’s “I know I said ‘I would miss you’, but now I think I’ll make a mess of you” line and you’ll see/hear what I mean.  Also included below is ‘Garden’, a song that starts off with a simple guitar strum but slowly builds up, layer by layer, eventually resulting into a melodious crescendo that even your most tone-deaf friends will appreciate. When it’s all said and done, I’m down with this Team, and I think you should be too. Check it:

One For The Team – Best Supporting Actress

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One For The Team – Garden

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Build A Garden is available now on CD via the band’s website (highly recommended!) and digitally via Amazon and iTunes.