Stem Champ- Prairie Skies Forever
cattnapped
self-released
Stem Champ’s debut album, Prairie Skies Forever, is a love letter to Edmonton that’s bound to resonate with anyone who carries their hometown in their heart. Contrasting singer Sare Alemu’s odes to house parties and downing pints with friends at their favourite local pub, she captures the complicated feelings of growing up in a tight-knit community, like the creeping restlessness that surfaces when you feel rudderless or stuck in place. “I’m moving at the speed of ‘It will happen when it happens,’” she sings on “January 29th” atop her glistening guitar riff and Daniela Roth’s swirling synth line, all grounded by Kaitlyn Budgell’s steady bass and Zane Baker’s even-keeled drumming.
Alemu spends Prairie Skies Forever hoping for a brighter future, even if it just means enjoying simple pleasures like washing down a juicy steak and fries with a cold beer. Recurring references to fire and light speak to her aspiration for something to simultaneously ignite action and illuminate her: “Bring out the rest of the firewood / Light up the fear in my heart / This is just the start / Who knows what’ll happen in the next part / It’s like I’m being seen for the first time,” she sings on the dreamy “Labour Day.”
Though the grand and uplifting “One Man Conversations” finds a defiantly confident Alemu relishing solitude, on “January 29th,” that appreciation is gone, teetering into loneliness. But no matter how isolated she feels, joyous memories live on every street corner. Whether together in person or in spirit, the comfort of old friends is undeniable; after all, the people you grew up with are often the ones who see you most clearly.
