As adolescents, we learn the rules of writing. Then, as adults, we learn that sometimes the best books result from breaking them.

Jennifer Egan is a perfect example of what happens when writers experiment with language, plot and setting. Her genre-bending, time-defying books have received critical acclaim and worked their way into the hearts of many readers.

On April 13, Egan spoke with creative writing professor Julie Schumacher at Coffman Union Theater for one of the English department’s biannual Esther Freier Lectures in Literature. These free readings began in 2001 and have featured notable authors such as Zadie Smith, Maggie Nelson and Nicola Yoon.

Egan read from her newest book, “The Candy House,” an exhilarating story about the frightening interconnectedness of our digital age. The book — published April 5 — serves as a companion to “A Visit From the Goon Squad,” which won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

In “The Candy House,” an entrepreneur creates a new technology that allows people to access all of their memories and exchange them with each other. Readers are introduced to a range of characters who discover the consequences of externalizing memories while searching for genuine human connections.

The book revisits themes, characters and structures from “A Visit From the Goon Squad,” but, like most of Egan’s work, can easily work as a standalone story. The chapters within her books each contain multiple short narratives written in unique styles or perspectives.

Some of Egan’s experimental takes on fiction writing include chapters composed of PowerPoint slides or tweets inserted into a book to help convey a virtual reality. Egan notes that these structures would be difficult to sustain for an entire novel, hence her reasoning for the diversity of writing styles throughout a singular book.

“Working in these shorter units is a fun way to get to try lots of different things,” Egan said. “I’m always looking for ways out of linearity.”

Though she has been a published author for more than 25 years, Egan still hesitates to categorize her work as any particular genre. Both “A Visit From the Goon Squad” and “The Candy House” are somewhere in between novel and short story collection, but she doesn’t like to classify them as either.

“I see genre as an opportunity and a possibility, but I like to move among genres because I enjoy the feeling of doing something I haven’t done before and being surprised by what happens,” Egan said.

Even though the content of her books jumps around between style and narrative, there is a string running through each chapter, intertwining them to create a grandiose story spanning across different places and time periods. Characters are vaguely connected to each other or one chapter is built on by the next. Everything comes together like pieces of a puzzle.

As for the process of creating these puzzles, Egan explained that she often starts writing with only a specific setting in mind, and then lets the rest of the chapter unfold from there.

“Time and place is my portal into fiction,” Egan said.

Egan said she does everything she can to completely submerge herself into the story as she creates these fictional worlds. “I try to get outside of my conscious mind,” she said.

To do this, she said she doubles down and gets close to the narrative by writing by hand rather than on a computer. This sounds like a recipe for a cramped hand, but Egan said she swears by it because it discourages her from immediately rereading and judging what she has just written. It also allows her to work on her stories anywhere: on the bus, on a bench or in bed.

Egan said she compares her writing process to the improvisation of actors or musicians.

“You can’t stop and revise, you just keep going and look for a sort of line or action or possibility that feels alive and push into that,” Egan said. “What I’m trying to do is surprise myself with material I wouldn’t have thought of consciously.”

At the end of the evening, Egan expressed gratitude for those who funded the event and made it possible for audience members to attend for free. After completing her PEN America presidency in 2020, she sees the importance of making these readings accessible all across the country.

“It’s harder and harder to find free literary events and I think that [this is] really really valuable,” Egan said. “I love being a part of it.”

As adolescents, we learn the rules of writing. Then, as adults, we learn that sometimes the best books result from breaking them.

Jennifer Egan is a perfect example of what happens when writers experiment with language, plot and setting. Her genre-bending, time-defying books have received critical acclaim and worked their way into the hearts of many readers.

On April 13, Egan spoke with creative writing professor Julie Schumacher at Coffman Union Theater for one of the English department’s biannual Esther Freier Lectures in Literature. These free readings began in 2001 and have featured notable authors such as Zadie Smith, Maggie Nelson and Nicola Yoon.

Egan read from her newest book, “The Candy House,” an exhilarating story about the frightening interconnectedness of our digital age. The book — published April 5 — serves as a companion to “A Visit From the Goon Squad,” which won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

In “The Candy House,” an entrepreneur creates a new technology that allows people to access all of their memories and exchange them with each other. Readers are introduced to a range of characters who discover the consequences of externalizing memories while searching for genuine human connections.

The book revisits themes, characters and structures from “A Visit From the Goon Squad,” but, like most of Egan’s work, can easily work as a standalone story. The chapters within her books each contain multiple short narratives written in unique styles or perspectives.

Some of Egan’s experimental takes on fiction writing include chapters composed of PowerPoint slides or tweets inserted into a book to help convey a virtual reality. Egan notes that these structures would be difficult to sustain for an entire novel, hence her reasoning for the diversity of writing styles throughout a singular book.

“Working in these shorter units is a fun way to get to try lots of different things,” Egan said. “I’m always looking for ways out of linearity.”

Though she has been a published author for more than 25 years, Egan still hesitates to categorize her work as any particular genre. Both “A Visit From the Goon Squad” and “The Candy House” are somewhere in between novel and short story collection, but she doesn’t like to classify them as either.

“I see genre as an opportunity and a possibility, but I like to move among genres because I enjoy the feeling of doing something I haven’t done before and being surprised by what happens,” Egan said.

Even though the content of her books jumps around between style and narrative, there is a string running through each chapter, intertwining them to create a grandiose story spanning across different places and time periods. Characters are vaguely connected to each other or one chapter is built on by the next. Everything comes together like pieces of a puzzle.

As for the process of creating these puzzles, Egan explained that she often starts writing with only a specific setting in mind, and then lets the rest of the chapter unfold from there.

“Time and place is my portal into fiction,” Egan said.

Egan said she does everything she can to completely submerge herself into the story as she creates these fictional worlds. “I try to get outside of my conscious mind,” she said.

To do this, she said she doubles down and gets close to the narrative by writing by hand rather than on a computer. This sounds like a recipe for a cramped hand, but Egan said she swears by it because it discourages her from immediately rereading and judging what she has just written. It also allows her to work on her stories anywhere: on the bus, on a bench or in bed.

Egan said she compares her writing process to the improvisation of actors or musicians.

“You can’t stop and revise, you just keep going and look for a sort of line or action or possibility that feels alive and push into that,” Egan said. “What I’m trying to do is surprise myself with material I wouldn’t have thought of consciously.”

At the end of the evening, Egan expressed gratitude for those who funded the event and made it possible for audience members to attend for free. After completing her PEN America presidency in 2020, she sees the importance of making these readings accessible all across the country.

“It’s harder and harder to find free literary events and I think that [this is] really really valuable,” Egan said. “I love being a part of it.”

For the theater department, kicking off April involved a whole lot of William Shakespeare.

Last weekend, the second-year students of the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater BFA Actor Training Program presented their annual Shakespeare Repertory. Unlike previous years, however, the actors were split into groups based on gender — the idea was that women would work on “Romeo and Juliet” while the men prepared “Hamlet.”

The decision to split up the cast into binaries for a Shakespearean play has become more popular in recent years. Doing so in the BFA program encouraged students to think more critically about translating, staging and bringing to life these plays that were written during a time of great misogyny.

It also brought up concerns regarding inclusivity and consideration of non-binary actors who don’t neatly fall into the categories of “man” or “woman.” Samuel Salvador Osborne-Huerta noted their original concern that they would be expected to behave a certain way based on where they were placed.

Luckily, Osborne-Huerta, who played Laertes in Hamlet, said they felt welcomed in the space despite the worries they had at the beginning.

“I was really, really grateful for how conscious and involved everyone was in conversations with me about gender. Going through it I felt very loved and safe,” they said.

With this gender split, half of the cast returned to the original Shakespearean practice of having no women perform on stage. This required the student actors to think more carefully about what gender truly means in “Hamlet” and whether or not it is relevant to the play.

“We were forced to have conversations early on in the rehearsal process about what it means and what story it forces us to tell in having all male-presenting bodies telling this story,” said Colin Covert, who played the titular role of Hamlet. This interpretational choice also meant that the actors had to be careful to not bring to life caricatures of women based on stereotypes.

Ophelia, one of the two female characters in the play, was portrayed by Robert Frank. At first, Frank struggled with figuring out what was necessary for success in this role. Instead of adding fake feminine traits or pretending to be a woman, he worked hard to create a genuine performance by letting femininity come to him naturally.

“Everybody has masculine and feminine sides of them,” said Frank. “What I wanted to focus on was stripping away masculinity and letting the natural feminine parts of me come out, and be comfortable with that on stage.”

In “Romeo and Juliet,” the split casting allowed for another separate, unique acting experience. Typically, Shakespearean plays do not give female characters the same depth given to the male characters. Women are often only represented by characters such as maids or mothers, explained director Keely Wolter. But the people involved in this interpretation played all the roles, from the overbearing fathers to the lovestruck teenagers.

“What I think is lovely about this production is that you can sit in the audience and see a variety of women be represented,” Wolter said. Like in “Hamlet,” the actors weren’t trying to simply play men; the play instead offered a special opportunity to genuinely explore femininity on stage.

“If you’re a young female actor [in Shakespeare], often one of [your] roles is going to be a man and you have to play it as a man,” Wolter said. “Letting them just honestly play women in this production was important for me and a great experience for them educationally and artistically.”

Though it sounds contradictory, an entirely male-presenting or female-presenting cast had the potential to make audiences forget about gender during their immersion in the play.

“The characters are suddenly just people,” Osborne-Huerta said. The lack of gender diversity on stage is noticeable at first, but then it can be naturally disregarded as these classic stories are brought to life without power dynamics or gender hierarchy.

Splitting up the company into binaries holds all sorts of nuance, but nevertheless, the shows put on were, at their core, good ol’ Shakespeare. The lengthy, language-rich performances allowed the actors to show off their endurance, technical skill and obvious passion.

Captivating an audience with these expansive yet strangely intimate stories is no easy feat, but these second-year students did so with grace and confidence.

On a chilly Friday night, French-speaking Minnesotans and music fans made themselves known at a unique, culture-rich event.

The evening featured Bobby Kabeya, an indie-pop musician (better known by his alias Miloe) born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2009, Kabeya moved to Minneapolis where his journalist father was granted asylum from the nation’s political unrest. After that, the now 21-year-old began preparing for his career in music by picking up different instruments and performing with his friends.

Before Kabeya even stepped on stage at The Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis, people were already dancing. Douala Soul Collective, a DJ duo influenced by the Francophone city of Douala, filled the room with African rhythms, zouk and reggae. The tunes made the space feel homelike and welcoming.

Introductions were made in both French and English by two representatives from the Alliance Française Mpls/St. Paul, the Twin Cities’ French cultural organization. This March, the organization selected the French-speaking Democratic Republic of the Congo to be represented locally during Francophone Month. Social and cultural celebrations honoring the nation occurred throughout the month leading up to the final event with Kabeya on March 25.

Kabeya’s performance started as a smooth solo with him, his voice and his electric guitar at the mic. Him and his bandmates displayed a perfected indie-pop look with rolled jeans, colorful guitars and Converse. Kabeya summed it up best: “I dress like an American,” he joked during the Q&A with The Current’s Jay Gabler and Salif Keita of KFAI radio after the concert.

The soft self-titled song “Miloe” was followed by Kabeya’s newest release “where u are,” a groovy melody that begins with pitched vocal layering, which he later explained is meant to be reminiscent of him during different phases of his youth. “where u are,” with its sentimental nature and the family-photo cover art, is just one piece of evidence that shows the importance of family to the artist.

His mom was easy to spot, jumping and dancing with other family in the second row. After exposing him to many of his musical influences and supporting his decision to pursue music, his parents seem to be some of Kabeya’s biggest fans. “I’m thankful [they] let me follow my gut,” he explained.

It must have been written in the stars that Kabeya would become a musician; after all, he was named after Jamaican singer-songwriter Bob Marley.

The seated event quickly shifted to standing, moving and dancing as the crowd started to feel the rhythm of Miloe’s music. Staying out of the seats was necessary for the audience to match the energy of the artist and his accompanying guitarists and drummer. “It’s cold out there, let’s warm up!” Kabeya said in between songs.

“Greenhouse” reinforced the pleasant energy in the room. The guitar-driven song brought the warm Congolese climate to Minneapolis, which was desperately needed after the city was hit with some jarring below-average temperatures. “Winona,” an impossibly catchy tune calling out actress Winona Ryder, continued to drive the evening forward and encourage audience participation.

Kabeya seemed effortlessly comfortable on stage, which might be the result of years of performing and, more recently, opening for large audiences across the country. Last fall, he opened for the popular band Beach Bunny on their extensive North American tour. His next big gigs will be opening for COIN, a pop rock band with over 4 million monthly listeners on Spotify, on the final fourth of their tour.

Although this show was by no means a large-scale production like those Kabeya has experienced before, it was still a special and intimate evening. It was the artist’s first formal event with only him and his band performing, marking an important milestone in his budding music career.

At the end of the performance, the audience cheered for “One more song!” and Kabeya delivered with the lovely and unplanned tune, “Marna.” His band left the stage, leaving him to close out the evening the same way it began — with his voice, his guitar and an eager audience.

While some spent St. Patrick’s Day celebrating on frat row, others chose to get cozy in Pillsbury Hall for the Creative Writing program’s annual First Books Reading.

The event, which featured Michael Kleber-Diggs, Abbey Mei Otis and Marco Wilkinson, took place on Thursday evening and was sponsored by the Walter Nathan Literary Initiatives, a recently established fund supporting the University of Minnesota’s Creative Writing department.

Each writer read from diverse bodies of work that explore themes such as familial relationships, class disparity, friendship and immigration. Kleber-Diggs, a poet, essayist and University graduate, was the first author to read, diving immediately into an emotional poem about the loss of his father by gunshot wound. “I learned death travels at 2,500 feet per second,” he read somberly to a silent crowd of attendees.

The poems read by Kleber-Diggs are all featured in the author’s prizewinning debut poetry collection “Worldly Things.” This collection was published by Milkweed Editions — a local nonprofit publisher — in 2021 and has since received national acclaim. It is currently a finalist for the 2022 Minnesota Book Award, of which the winner will be announced at a ceremony in April.

Kleber-Diggs’ poetry takes fragments of thought and experience and intertwines them into one expansive narrative. During the reading, the audience was able to get an intimate glimpse into the poet’s life. Although the nature of the poems was obviously personal, it was also easy to get introspective, especially through the relatable topic of complicated, often fragmented parent-child relationships.

The main takeaway from Kleber-Diggs’ performance? “Those who love us can destroy us,” he said.

Next, Macalester professor Abbey Mei Otis stepped up to the microphone and expressed her gratitude towards being involved in another live event after the pandemic disrupted all in-person author events. She read “Rich People,” a grotesque exploration of wealth and class that is featured in her short story collection “Alien Virus Love Disaster.”

Otis’ writing conveys a sense of unease through her descriptions of bodies and spaces. “I find grounding in amplifying the unsettling,” Otis said.

“Rich People” in particular explores the sense of “sneaking into places where you don’t feel like you belong” with body horror and absurd imagery. The story is vivid, strange and satisfying.

During the reading, Otis drew the audience in through hand gestures and vocal inflection to match her words. There is something undeniably special in hearing an author’s words right from their mouth. The experience feels more grounding than reading from a page where the author is a concept rather than a person.

Wilkinson was the third and final writer to share work from his memoir “Madder,” which was also published locally by Coffee House Press. The book is his personal exploration of discovering his own life story, describing his “wormhole history” that is the result of an immigrant mother and an absent father.

As a horticulturist, Wilkinson uses his extensive knowledge of plants to paint a picture of his life. His memoir speaks mostly of weeds, the overachievers that can find a home anywhere. ”I have an affinity for things that are out of place,” he explained. The excerpts he read explored anger, religion, growth and love with little bits of Spanish fluttered in to pay homage to his own Uruguayan roots.

The evening ended with a short Q&A session where the three authors discussed what surprised them about the publishing industry, the mental process of writing a book and how to get traction when publishing your work. But, as Wilkinson reassuringly explained, “traction or not, a book has a life of its own.”

Though each displayed their own unique skill set, Kleber-Diggs, Otis and Wilkinson have at least one thing in common: they are not only talented writers, but also moving speakers who inspire self-reflection. Sometimes, hearing the confident voice of others is enough to encourage you to look inward and find your own.

With so much talent in the Twin Cities, it’s always possible to discover and support locally sourced art. Here’s a list of local folks who are shaping current history through their creativity.

Miloe: Have an affinity for chill, underground indie? So do we. Miloe, the stage name of Bobby Kabeya, provides all the feel-good energy you need to get you through the end of winter. Kabeya’s major project “Greenhouse EP” was released in 2020 and consists of five songs that scream sunshine and youth. By incorporating traditional bedroom-pop elements with Congolese-inspired stylistic choices, Kabeya is able to pay homage to his youth in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Check out Miloe here.

Leslie Barlow: Leslie Barlow, an artist and lecturer at the University of Minnesota, explores the entanglement of race and relationships with her colorful, life-sized portraits. Her oil paintings highlight community dynamics and are inspired by real people and their stories. Last summer, Barlow’s work was featured in an exhibition at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and currently you can view her paintings on display at the Weisman Art Museum or here.

Noah Lawrence-Holder: Illustrator, animator and storyboard artist Noah Lawrence-Holder pairs bright colors with themes of racial and gender equality to highlight the importance of intersectionality. Their work has evolved to portray “Afrofuturistic settings in which Black and queer people have been fully liberated.” Through these creations, Lawrence-Holder hopes to connect with and uplift others who inhabit the same identities as they do. They recently finished work for a residency program through the Minnesota African American Heritage Museum and Gallery which will go on display in June. In the meantime, view their work here.

Danez Smith: Writer Danez Smith crafts breathtaking poetry and prose about their experience as a queer Black person. Their poetry books have been positively reviewed by several major publications including The New York Times and The Telegraph, and their poem about police brutality was published on Buzzfeed. Smith’s work navigates powerful themes with grace, creativity and power. Purchase their most recent book of poems here, or view their work online here.

Junauda Petrus-Nasah: Junauda Petrus-Nasah’s recent debut novel, “The Stars and the Blackness Between Them,” tells the story of two fictional Black girls who fall in love — in Minneapolis. Exploring topics such as Blackness, queerness and adolescence, Petrus-Nasah provides young adults with an uplifting, joyous novel. Her other work includes short-film series “Sweetness of Wild” and “There Are Other Worlds,” a play incorporating aerial art. Support Petrus-Nasah’s creations here.

T. Aaron Cisco: Author and essayist T. Aaron Cisco describes his work as “singing the songs of the unsung as loudly as possible.” Whether he’s interviewing for a news article or crafting an expansive Afrofuturism novel, Cisco’s writing is a tool to amplify the voices of those who often go overlooked. His ultimate goal? For his work to connect with as many people as possible. “By putting prose and paragraphs to the page, we can experience a single moment across thousands of years, and connect with billions of people in an instant,” he said. You can find Cisco’s words here, here and here.

Reggie LeFlore: Visual artist Reggie LeFlore celebrates humanity through murals. His street art-inspired projects reference real people, allowing folks to connect and identify with each other’s stories. LeFlore’s murals have been located in public spaces across the Twin Cities, and his biggest project — commissioned by the 2021 X Games — was placed right across the street from First Avenue. Currently, LeFlore is working on a 20-year project called Overseer. It depicts the story of a celestial demigoddess who helps him tap into “[his] identity and ancestry as a Black person in the United States.” His work can be viewed online here.

Patience Zalanga: The work of local freelance photographer Patience Zalanga primarily documents the Black Lives Matter movement and the effects of police brutality on the Twin Cities community. Her work homes in on the singular moments of power that come together to create one sweeping force of people fighting for change. Zalanga’s photographs have received national acclaim and made their way to lists such as TIME’s Top 100 and The New York Times Year In Pictures. Support her photography here.

Papa Mbye: Rapper Papa Mbye joined the Minneapolis music scene back in 2020 and has since solidified his position as an up-and-coming artist with his EP “MANG FI.” This project was received graciously by fans who helped sell out a 7th Street Entry show last fall. On March 4, Mbye will return to First Avenue, this time in the mainroom, with several other performers for the venue’s Best New Bands of 2021 event. Buy tickets for the show here, or stream Mbye’s music here.

Sophia Eris: The Minneapolis-based artist, DJ and MC Sophia Eris is best known for touring with popular artist Lizzo. Her current residency is at Ice House Minneapolis where she curates Power Rager Sundays, which are hip-hop dance nights that highlight local talent and new music. As for Eris’ music, her EP “The Reception” dropped on Valentine’s Day. This collection of songs provides listener’s with a taste of her groovy style and was made in collaboration with Casey Gerald. You can listen to it here.

“Sometimes I think a little bit too much about what’s going on,” said singer-songwriter Indigo De Souza as she looked bashfully across the packed main room of First Avenue. “[Performing] is what I love to do, but it’s a little horrifying.”

Horrifying is not the word I would use to describe De Souza’s hard-to-top opening act, but ravishing, commanding or intoxicating might do the trick.

Almost a year after selling out, Lucy Dacus fans brought plenty of pent-up energy to a long-awaited show. The tour date was rescheduled for Feb. 17 after a band member’s positive COVID-19 test forced a cancellation last fall. This time, even Dacus’ two herniated discs couldn’t get in the way of a night of indie rock joy.

To kick off the evening, De Souza performed a short setlist of songs that needed no explanation: her sprawling vocals and dark lyrics told the whole story. The artist writhed in the pain of heartbreak, belting through gritted teeth and proving her range. She mixed in some old songs from her debut LP “I Love My Mom” and showcased new work with the more recent album “Any Shape You Take.”

Attendees seemed to be rightfully delighted with the budding star’s performance. An extended round of applause prompted the house lights to turn on before De Souza closed her set with the sardonically titled “Kill Me.” The finale built from purely vocals and guitar to an explosive rock ending that properly prepared the audience for the rest of the night’s excitement.

The room buzzed after De Souza stepped off stage and dozens of crew members began preparing for the main attraction. When they pulled out a black leather couch, those who follow Dacus spoke sympathetically while others googled “Lucy Dacus back injury” to get caught up. Finally, the star walked onstage and into the hearts of the cheering crowd.

Right off the bat, it was clear that Dacus’ injury wasn’t going to inhibit her performance. Anyone who has taken a choir class knows how difficult it is to sing while laying down, but Dacus’ well trained, tender alto voice filled the room from the start.

A sequence of three songs equipped with building vocals, flashing lights and a head-banging guitarist was an appropriate start to Dacus’ set. Although she is typically known for her emotional lyrics and easy-going melodies, this show proved that you can definitely jump and dance to her songs.

When the artist unnecessarily-but-humbly sat up to introduce herself, she told the audience that she’d been waiting for this show for her entire life. It was likely a lot of fans felt the same. Later, Dacus explained: “I’m a big Prince fan so being here is highly emotional. I texted my mom about it.”

It wasn’t difficult to tell that Dacus was having just as much fun as the audience was. She continuously cracked jokes and giggled throughout lyrics, creating a laid-back atmosphere in the potentially-intimidating room of 1500 concert-goers.

The set continued with fan favorites including “Hot & Heavy” and “VBS” before a sweet cover of Édith Piaf’s “La Vie en Rose.” Although I wouldn’t have been too surprised if Dacus’ talents included speaking French, she sang the English version and dedicated it “to all the lovebirds out there.” She also covered “Home Again” by Carole King, prompting many cheers from all the 70s fans in the crowd.

Dacus described “Going Going Gone” as a sing-along and “a little bit of serotonin” before simultaneously breaking hearts and putting them back together with “Thumbs.” The slow song about a lousy father obviously struck a chord with the audience — you could hear the whole room collectively exhale as it began.

Although she mainly performed songs from her most recent album, “Home Video,” a few oldies were thrown in the mix to satisfy the longtime fans in the crowd. Dacus’ newest single, “Kissing Lessons” was performed, with the singer explaining to the crowd that it was the first song she wrote for “Home Video” but ended up not including it because it was “too cute.”

In lieu of the time it would take to pull off the pre-planned encore typical of non-injured performers, Dacus chatted with the audience and introduced her final song, “Night Shift.” She belted out, “You’ve got a 9 to 5 / so I’ll take the night shift / And I’ll never see you again if I can help it.”

I can’t speak for the rest of the attendees, but I’ll certainly do everything I can to see Lucy Dacus again.

Nearly four years after the release of their sophomore album, “Bambi,” Hippo Campus is back on the scene with “LP3.”

Despite its misleadingly-bland title, the album establishes the band as a serious group with lots left to say in the world of indie rock.

Hippo Campus started off as a quintet of St. Paul high schoolers back in 2013. Since then, they’ve made an impressive name for themselves with a solid discography and multiple world tours. In April, after two months of touring for “LP3,” they will return to the Twin Cities to finish off the North American leg of the tour, right where they began almost a decade ago.

“LP3” explores themes of self-discovery, loneliness and star signs while delivering the upbeat sound expected from a Hippo Campus album. With a satisfying amount of songs, there’s enough time to experiment with synths and new instruments while remaining true to their roots of groovy melodies and emotionally-charged lyrics.

Right from the start, the album gets deep with “2 Young 2 Die.” Existential dread has caught like wildfire in these past couple of years; there couldn’t be a better time for a song that ruminates on such a topic. As one of the most sonically unique songs on the album, the first track intertwines dark lyrics with layers of electronic sounds, replicating the feeling of entering young adulthood and having no idea where to go next.

The next track, “Blew Its,” is ambiguous and less lyrically sharp than its predecessor, yet it still manages to move the LP forward. Following “Blew Its” is “Ashtray,” a song that puts the rock in indie rock. Its fast tempo and building bridge are electrifying, making “Ashtray” a contender for the album’s most-anticipated song to hear live in concert.

“Bang Bang” is a gentle, groovy track that marks a transition from more experimental songs to the classic-but-beloved indie rock sound. Synthetic elements are dialed down and replaced with a driving drum beat and catchy chorus. “Semi Pro” continues with this pattern, and the simple, yet sophisticated, melody allows listeners to pay more attention to the cutting lyrics and sports metaphors present throughout the song. While comparing playing ball with troubled careers, “Semi Pro” painfully highlights the phenomenon of abandoned dreams.

The best sing-along track on the album is “Ride or Die.” With a repetitive chorus composing most of the song, it’s easy to learn and likely to get stuck in your head. Fan comments under an accompanying music video note this song’s reminiscence of the Vampire Weekend sound: unsurprising, given both bands closely follow the formula for feel-good indie rock. Though this track doesn’t take many risks, it is undoubtedly catchy, perhaps more so than many other songs on the album.

“Scorpio” sings of the infamously closed-off star sign, expressing jealousy of the ability to laugh off and downplay tough emotions. In between vocal harmonies, a trumpet and piano are played, further blurring the lines between genres and incorporating new elements with the band’s original sound. However, “Scorpio” is outdone by the mid-tempo track that follows: “Listerine.” This song can be best described as a total vibe, the kind of song you listen to while driving with the windows rolled down and the stereo turned up. Its pitched-up vocals scream summer nights and nostalgia.

As the album nears completion, “Boys” proves you can never go wrong with a classic. This exhilarating track relies on four chords and was released back in Oct. 2021, along with the announcement of “LP3”. The song generated lots of excitement from fans who were itching for a full-length album and accompanying tour after a few hard years without much action in the music scene.

Finally, “Understand” showcases Hippo Campus’ songwriting skills with an emotional love letter. The clean vocals exclaim: “I don’t care what we are, it just has to work.” Desperation seeps through the track, and the open-endedness of the lyrics provides a bittersweet yet appropriate ending to this collection of songs.

Though it doesn’t stray too far from the traditional indie rock sound, “LP3” is an all-encompassing album that marks the beginning of an exciting new era for the Minnesota band.

Grade: A-