298 fans
patching, the intimate debut LP from Minneapolis-based singer and songwriter runo plum, gracefully captures the contraction, expansion and release of an intense period of emotional repair, in soft-edged, radiating indie rock. A lush debut statement born from heartbreak, patching is filled with rich sonic moments that balance out emotional vacancies, creating expansion from an ending. The record’s unbridled sincerity isn’t anything new for runo plum, who’s been writing and quietly sharing bedroom dispatches of her intricate folk for a half-decade. During the pandemic years, she steadily caught the ears of a widening circle of listeners and began independently releasing a series of singles and EPs, all while cutting her teeth on the live side supporting Searows, Angel Olsen and Hovvdy.
Cataloging the double edged sword of love and loss in an aching freefall of indie rock with the same unabashed candor of early Julia Jacklin and Big Thief records, patching was recorded in a cabin in rural Vermont over the course of two weeks. Together with Lutalo, the Minnesota-born, Vermont-based musician and producer and runo’s collaborator, instrumentalist and girlfriend Noa Francis, the trio centered the honeyed, time-worn timbre of a centenarian acoustic guitar and the easeful warmth of runo’s voice. Across patching’s twelve tracks, runo paints melodic arcs that swirl and tumble, crafting songs that capture both the hazy highs and the dark blue lows of all the natural cycles that make the world turn.
