Named after the hometown of songwriter Benjamin Richter, Hazelcreak is a folk outfit based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Originating as a partnership with multi-instrumentalist and producer Isaac Levy (Yam Haus), the project has since widened to a wider cast of collaborators, welcoming Caleb Hinz (Samia, Hippo Campus), Jeremy Ylvisaker (Bon Iver, John Prine) and JT Bates (Bonny Light Horseman, Taylor Swift) into the fold. Together, they create folk-inflected rock rooted in the landscape from which it emerges.
This autumn, Hazelcreak are releasing a new full-length album, Gopher State, and have unveiled the first single, ‘Father Hennepin’, by way of an introduction. Described as “the cross-product of a funeral song and a road trip jam,” the track revolves around the idea of grief as a shared event. It originated from a loved one’s loss of someone close, and paints mourning as a kind of ripple effect, disturbing more than those directly effected.
From Bemidji’s trees on Halloween
Couldn’t force yourself to fall asleep
Stuck at that Dairy Queen
You told me you were scared to leaveLike lavender and Albert’s – the taste it leaves
But having had you is enough for me
Having had you is enough for me
The track comes complete with a short film by Old Neighbor and Nick Richter. Shot at Bear Head Lake State Park in Ely, Minnesota on Kodak Super8 film, the video captures the song’s sense of blue-skied nostalgia, infused with equal parts carefree joy and bittersweet memory.
Gopher State is out on the 1st October.