Theo Hilton is one of the few songwriters that can turn a song about oil refineries in the Mississippi watershed into a long and reflective conversation with a friend, all the while referencing Cindy Milstein's Anarchism And Its Aspirations. For a decade now, Hilton's band Nana Grizol has wound long-winding narratives around scrappy pop songs that explore identity and anti-capitalist philosophy, but are also incredibly sweet and kind.
Clyde Peterson directs the tour diary-style video for "Mississippi Swells," which comes from the band's first album in seven years, Ursa Minor. While Hilton now lives in New Orleans, his heart's forever embedded in Athens, Ga., where he played in punk bands and started Nana Grizol and where the rest of the band's lineup lives, including members of Elf Power, The Music Tapes, Witches and The Door-Keys. So when Laura Carter and Robbie Cucchiaro's horns blare the song's bridge, there's a ton of Athens music history blowing through those tubes.
Ursa Minor comes out March 31 on Orange Twin. Nana Grizol is currently on tour.
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