The Cosmos Guide Humbird In New Record, ‘Morning When It Comes’
local Siri Undlin honors being “steeped in where you are,” unveils a dozen fresh tracks rich with folk-pop sounds on Sept. 25
Just one day before the Harvest Moon reaches the heart of Eau Claire, a fresh collection of music will arrive in our orbit. This musical offering honors our natural surroundings and its central narrative in Humbird’s latest record, Morning When It Comes.
Eau Claire-based Siri Undlin – the frontwoman of Humbird – offers a gentle and poignant nod to the “fragile and wild” beauty of our shared existence right here and now.
“The themes of this album (are) about darkness, illness, trying to find stability,” Siri shared. “Even in the midst of trying to find answers to chronic health struggles, (there is) an appreciation and awe for the natural world in an infinite universe.”
As she traced her own constellation from initial concept to its release on Sept. 25, Morning When It Comes – supported by Nettwerk Music Group and Five Head Entertainment – journeys the shadowy spaces of the mind.
Across its 12 tracks, Siri and her ensemble of collaborators showcase parallels between grief, creativity and just what it means to lean into the untamed.
Morning When It Comes Release Pop-Up
When: 7pm on Sept. 25
Where: Abraxas Wax (320 Graham Ave., Suite 102, Eau Claire)
This free to attend, causal pop-up will feature a performance from Humbird, playing new songs from the album Morning When It Comes and poetry from local KD Hackworthy. Humbird will have limited edition ocean blue vinyl ($35), only available in person.
When listening through, these intentions linger amidst shimmering electronic textures and a grounding heartbeat of the upright bass. Crafted during her own periods of internal reckoning, Siri’s lyricism today illuminates a steady – if imperfect – journey toward the light, aided by the catharsis of creation.
“I do think that writing and lots of creative pursuits are a tool in your tool kit,” Siri said. “Especially when you are in a dark place, (it’s) a little token of beauty or possibility.
“The exact philosophy is approaching music as a constellation of ideas. Even if it’s not joyful, this is something I can do, in this time where I feel really powerless, lost, or scared,” she continued.
Live music attendees across the Chippewa Valley have enjoyed the rare gift of watching Morning When It Comes unfold in real time. Through performances across local stages – from the Pablo Center at the Confluence (128 Graham Ave.) to intimate gatherings at the Masonic Temple (616 Graham Ave.) – life in Eau Claire has shaped this new chapter in the Humbird fairytale.
The new record welcomes familiar anchors of Humbird – Shane Leonard, Pat Keen and Nate LeBrun – each with their own roles, from instrumentation to production and songwriting. Yet, Siri has invited other local voices to the record as well, such as Luke Callen, Sarah Magill (Quiet Takes), Sarah Krueger (Lanue) and Sarah Elstran (The Nunnery).
“Streaming shouldn't dictate anything about an artist's music – it's just a conduit for delivery, part of the weird intersection of art and commerce,” Shane said. “I love it when people play whatever they want to play regardless of whether it's been released.”
On producing with Siri Undlin
and Shane LeonardFor the first time, Undlin steps intentionally into the role of co-producer for Morning When It Comes alongside longtime producer and fellow Eau Clairian Shane Leonard.
We spoke with both musicians on making art together and trusting play, “even as it braves pain and hardship.”
“Shane has been an amazing producer within the Humbird project, but also a mentor and a friend to me personally,” Siri said. “So, it’s fun to have someone like Shane be like 'what you’re doing is part of producing' but you don't have to feel alone or the pressure. (Shane) and I have a really fun and exciting dynamic in the studio together.
“Our relationship as friends and collaborators has evolved to the point where everything feels fluid; relatively little needs to be explained and musical notions are often unspoken but understood,” Shane added. “Whether or not an artist takes on the producer role depends on what best serves the music. ... Sometimes the artist is someone who has lots of ideas about arrangement and sonics beyond the core writing, and that person is well-suited to co-producing.
“Siri is someone who can do both, which is very rare,” he continued.
As she reflected on projects preceding Morning When It Comes – the grittier, Americana and folk-rock of Right On (2024) to the modern ambient production of Still Life (2021) and Pharmakon (2019) – Siri imagines Humbird as a winding road of collaborators, coming and going through life’s phases.
“(Humbird) has always been really amorphous in a cool way,” Siri said. “This album is (going) back to a core tenet of the project when it started – which (is that) I don’t know what this is going to be…”
“As an arranger and person leading the project, I invite people to do what they do best in the band,” she continued. “The reason Pat Keen is playing on the album is because he plays like Pat Keen. I want his talents and his genius to be a part of it.”
This sentiment, quite literally, rings true as “the Sarahs” have provided crystalline harmonies to live sessions for track nine, “Blood Moon” and other visuals leading up to the record’s release.
From intimate live sessions captured in local spaces like Dotters Books (307 S. Barstow St., Eau Claire) to the home of area creatives Katie Jae and Ross Nordquist, it was hard not to ask Siri more about the visual universe of Morning When It Comes.
The cover imagery itself, brought to life by Natalie Vukic, provides yet another doorway into the world-building of the record.
“We live in a music ecosystem that, despite it being music, is very visual at this time in history,” Siri said of the album’s video visuals and other ephemera. “Because there are all these people that are great at what they do and it’s here in Eau Claire, why not just dive in and showcase it?”
Tracing back to the music, tracks such as “Hey Big Dipper” and “All Water” serve as lullabies sung directly to the stars. Within these arrangements, Siri’s quiet melodies and harmonies evoke nostalgia, wrapping us in a safe haven between artist and listener.
Placing title track, “Morning When It Comes,” at the conclusion of this record is highly intentional, Siri said. It offers a sense of optimism as we emerge from the shadows into daybreak.
“The sun rises again,” Siri said. “That doesn't mean it gets easier or better. It’s just these cycles of light and dark and how they mix into a full and complex human experience.”
As we await the next time Humbird gathers together on stage, let Morning When It Comes be a reminder for how small shifts in the universe transform our capacity to create – provided we embrace the mystical astral planes and communities that guide us.
All 12 tracks of Morning When It Comes by Humbird will be available on Sept. 25 via Bandcamp and streaming platforms. Humbid will perform the record at a free event on album release day, at Abraxas Wax (320 Graham Ave., Suite 102, Eau Claire). Visit humbirdmusic.com to learn more.
