Minneapolis musician Dessa talks creative process ahead of new album, 'Bury the Lede'

[DESSA, "HURRICANE PARTY"] DESSA: (SINGING) Fill the kiddie pool up with prosecco. Get the LEDs on, need the spectacle. Gotta beat the one last week. Let's get a record. If you're trying to be a go getter, you got it go and get it. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Some legitimate headlines, mostly cries for attention. The camera speeds. Copy. Ready to read. Ought to be a good night. We're live in three--

CATHY WURZER: If you're a frequent listener here or to our sister station The Current, you've heard that voice before. Minneapolis singer, rapper, writer Dessa has risen to fame over the past two decades through both her genre defying solo performances and collaborations with groups like the Minnesota Orchestra. Plus, she's also a podcast host, published author, and really artistic juggernaut.

Now, that song we just heard is a new one called "Hurricane Party." It's off of her newest album that's out next Friday called Bury the Lede, which is a time honored journalistic slap which means the reporter does not emphasize the most important part of a story. Dessa is on the line. Hey, it's great to hear your voice.

DESSA: Hi. How's it going, Cathy?

CATHY WURZER: I am great. Thanks for taking the time to talk with us. Say, tell me about Bury the Lede. I mean, you're familiar with the news business. What were you thinking about with this new creation?

DESSA: I think in part, I was eager to title the record, which leans into a lot of pop sounds, in a way that indicated that it still maintains a literary sensibility. And also, I love that phrase. I'm a sucker for it. I like a little bit of like inside baseball slang in writer terms. But I think there's sort of a regrettable assumption that a pop song can't be smart, that it has to cater to some lowest common denominator.

I think the industry has set that denominator way too low. I think that you can be poppy and still like trust a listener to follow along some kind of literary and interesting references and turns of phrase and the like. So that was my hope with the title, yeah.

CATHY WURZER: I like it. Smart pop. We played your single "Hurricane Party," which I really like. Tell us a little bit about the inspiration behind that song.

DESSA: I think I was excited to learn years ago that hurricane parties are real things and parts of the country and parts of the world where you've got big storms coming through. When people don't evacuate, they batten the hatches, settle in to survive the storm. And sometimes, that involves inviting friends over and provisioning up with a bunch of snacks and a bunch of booze and figuring out a playlist.

This is how we're going to survive the storm. And to me, it felt like that was a really ripe allegory for generally being alive in the past few years. You know what I mean? It just feels like there are no shortages of existential threats in almost every direction of the compass rose.

And so the idea of every once in a while, just saying, yo. Also, we have to find some time to stay up late and drink and dance and be fully alive even though we've got these enormous looming problems on every horizon.

CATHY WURZER: Have you had an opportunity to sit back, take a few drinks, dance, and relax? I mean, you're so busy.

DESSA: I'm better at the drinking and dancing than I am at the relaxing.

[LAUGHTER]

CATHY WURZER: Good for you. For folks, as I mentioned in the intro, you've been making music in the Twin Cities for about 20 years now. Gosh, I think your debut solo EP was released back in 2005. So anyone listening of course can hear your musical evolution, right? And since it's kind of a trend now to describe ourselves even as having eras, like in the style of Taylor Swift, what musical era, then, is this new album for you?

DESSA: OK, I hear you. I think that as music has changed and we've changed as listeners-- I think even like 10 years ago, people had more of an allegiance and an alliance to a particular genre as like a personality identifier. And now, I think people are a lot more likely to listen across genres. Usually if you ask somebody, "What kind of music do you listen to?" their answer is, "Oh, a little bit of everything."

That's the go to and most common reply. And I think that I've always loved radio pop music. I love a good melody. I love a really, really strong hook. But I think I'd shied away from those for a long time because they didn't feel like culturally and socially compatible with the kind of lane that I was working primarily in underground hip hop.

And now, I think I care less, and also, I think the world cares less. Yo, embrace joy where you find it. And I think that the idea of bringing my full like writerly self to the table as I'm trying to pen a really memorable pop song-- yeah.

It feels like there's something there. That feels like a vein worth mining to me. So I think you can hear that on the new record, that there's this love of pop music, and hopefully, a recognizable sense of sensibility in this kind of writerly underground world, too.

CATHY WURZER: And again, as you said earlier, kind of writing smart songs, in a sense. Speaking of smart, you are fantastic. We love to listen to you on MPR because you've been radio hosting 1A. You've done some guest hostings. We were all cheering you in the studio when you were on. Yes, good for you. And of course, you're hosting the podcast Deeply Human, right? So I'm wondering, where you see that work in relation to your music career?

DESSA: Oh, interesting. That's not where I thought you were going. OK. I think that from the outside when we talk about the way that careers generally and artistic careers in particular have sort of become multi-foliate. You do this, and you host a podcast, and you record a record, and you write a book.

But I think for me, it feels like a lot of that happens under the banner of language arts. I think in some way, conversation was probably my first foray into using language with a stylistic flourish-- and not just for transactional ends. I loved hearing my parents flip a really clever phrase, or I loved when somebody could deliver with perfect dry comic timing something at the table.

And even as a toddler, my mom says that I used to go to her and say, like, I want to do that thing where you talk and then I talk and then you talk. And she was like, baby, that's called a conversation, and also you need to stop talking for any-- please stop talking for just a moment because my ears are bleeding.

But for me, I think two people in conversation almost feels like the base from which a lot of my other interests in language have stemmed. Yeah.

CATHY WURZER: I see that. I wish I had more time with you. Whenever we talk to musicians on this show, we ask them to bring in a piece of music that's inspiring them. So we asked you to choose a song, and it's by one of my favorites, so thank you. Lady Midnight, and it's called "All of My Life."

[LADY MIDNIGHT, "ALL OF MY LIFE"]

LADY MIDNIGHT: (SINGING) They didn't know me. Underestimated myself, grew stronger, had to take a loss for wealth to uncover power that I put on a shelf. Never going back, back to that. Said take a note, but I'm--

CATHY WURZER: So why did you pick this one?

DESSA: Oh, I think she's so good. You said she's one of your favorites. She's one of mine, too. I think she's live. I think she's infectious. I think that there is this undeniable 10,000 watt radiating energy from her on stage. And also, I love vocal harmony, and her work on this new record-- which her record drops at the end of October on the 27th-- is so strong.

It's really good. So when she sent me a link to the new disk-- yeah, I was impressed and thrilled for her. And also, it's easy because she and I are-- I'm lucky to be sharing the stage with her on tour. So when we do our Midwest run in November, she and I will be taking stage. And I know we'll be at First Ave in the Twin Cities on the 16th of November. So this was a really easy kind of partnership.

CATHY WURZER: Yes. I'm glad you mentioned that because that-- my gosh. It's the 16th. I got to get tickets. Hang on. Let me write that down.

DESSA: I know somebody who can get you on the list. Don't sweat it.

CATHY WURZER: Perfect. So you're starting in Colorado. I believe that that's the kickoff of your tour, right?

DESSA: Yeah, you got it. Yep. We start off in Colorado at the beginning of October and then kind of work our way through some West Coast dates, East Coast dates, and then come home for that big show at First Ave on the 16th of November.

CATHY WURZER: I wish you all the best. You are fantastic. Dessa, thanks for joining us.

DESSA: Thank you so much for the kind words, Cathy, sincerely.

CATHY WURZER: We will talk to you soon. That is singer, rapper, writer Dessa. Her newest album Bury the Lede-- that's L-E-D-E-- is out next Friday. Check it out. Our friends at The Current are also playing some cuts off of that new album.