Unlike Joanna Newsom—honestly, its been almost two years and Ys still has yet to grow on me—Johanna Kunin balances the wonders of the forest (she sings about fireflies in a way that will make you want to ditch your possessions and live in an old growth tree) with the realities of the urban landscape. On 2006’s Clouds Electric, Kunin channels the whimsical without losing track of the push-and-pull of the human condition. She has recently been in Portland mixing a new album, which will most likely put her name on the tongues of those seeking a new mysterious singer/songwriter to place on the altar. EZRA ACE CARAEFF

MP3:
Johanna Kunin - Seaworthy Sleeper

w/Shelley Short; Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi, 8 pm, $7-8