Speed Queen [LP]

On her third album, Little Scream offers us a reflection on class and poverty in America. Speed Queen began as bits of prose written while touring her last album across North America-observing the slow entropy of the US, ruminating on her own low-income upbringing in a flyover state, and, as she says, "taking it all in from the privileged position of being a new Canadian." Montreal-based songwriter and guitarist Laurel Sprengelmeyer has been playing music under the moniker Little Scream since 2008. In 2011, she released The Golden Record, which Pitchfork dubbed "a stellar debut" and NPR called "an absolutely captivating record." It was included in NPR's Best Albums of 2011 list, and the New York Times evoked it's "hints of the divine," including Little Scream as one of the best new acts to follow at SXSW. Her second album and Merge debut Cult Following, which features guests including Sufjan Stevens, Mary Margaret O'Hara, and Sharon Van Etten, earned Little Scream new band of the week status from The Guardian and received five stars from Bust Magazine.