by Riley Kirk
Photo courtesy of Neu Blume
Following their mid-April release Let it Win, alt-folk band Neu Blume played North Side’s beloved The Government Center on September 29, a Monday night. The Phoenix-Detroit amalgamation is coming off of a pint-size eastern tour composed of three headlining shows in Philadelphia, Brooklyn, and Pittsburgh.
However, lead duo Mo Neuharth and Colson Miller are not as road-weary as most would be after driving I76 back and forth. Neuharth’s soft, warbling voice and Miller’s patient, steady harmonies welcome the audience in like a warm cup of coffee in the morning on a day off, a gift of a precious moment sheltered from the hustle of everyday routine. They are joined by Wally Boudway and Ian Kelman, original recording cast on Let it Win.
Boudway, Kelman, Neuharth, and Miller met where they grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. Various musical projects there (notably, Nanami Ozone) united the band members in different local combinations until Neuharth moved to Detroit in 2016, followed a few years later by Miller. “There was a really special ten years that we were all lucky to be a part of, and that’s how we all know each other now,” Miller says (“We’re just cosplaying as midwesterners now,” he jokes on stage).
Despite not all residing in Arizona anymore, Neu Blume remains integrated in their Phoenix roots through music collective Music Sounds, which orbits around Oracle Recording Studios. “It’s a label, but they’re not necessarily just putting tons of money into everyone’s projects,” Neuharth says. “Everyone helps each other, whether it’s through video work or session work. It’s a really nice community. For us, that’s our world in Phoenix.”
Let it Win, Neu Blume’s debut full-length record, came out April 11, 2025, and was recorded in August of 2023 in Arizona at Oracle Recording Studios.
“At the time (of recording) I was really into this universal asking of let space into the room, just let it be what it is,” Miller says.
“We went into it with the two of us agreeing that we were going to give people creative freedom because we asked them to do this for us, and why would we ask them to do this if we didn’t want their artistic expression?” Neuharth says. “There was a lot of just let it happen.”
Everything about Neu Blume has organic energy to it. Neuharth wears a silky button up and soft pants, readily hugs those she meets in the crowd and shrugs off technical difficulties without a hint of frustration. After the show, she speaks freely about her historical house renovations, her ambiguity about ghosts, and her love for Taco Bell cheesy bean burritos. There is an intentional element of class and calmness to her, coupled with a realistic sense of humor and frank genuineness. It makes her a very likable person and a relatable artist. Miller, Boudway, and Kelman all wear button-up shirts, have good, firm handshakes, and know what brand of beer they drink. All four band members respect each other and cherish their shared memories in a way that is palpable to a stranger in the room. Their mature yet honest energy transfers directly into their music, serving as a confident, comforting reminder that pain and anxiety are real, normal, and most importantly, temporary.
“Maybe age is part of that,” Miller says in reference to the folk-sound Neu Blume has adopted after individual pop-punk, indie-rock, and garage band projects from all of the members. “Things move me now at a different pace. Me and Mo, we’re working on her house and being out in the yard a lot.”
“When you’re out in the garden, you’re not listening to pop-punk,” Neuharth chimes in. “We were listening to cozy, sustainable music that is lyrically about the same sentiment like nature and home.”
“When we were younger, we were all playing in a lot of bands,” Boudway explains. “So your life is surrounded by music, and energy, and social events. (Garage) seems like appropriate music to make when that is your life, but now when you are spending a lot of time outdoors by yourself and with just a couple friends, that kind of music doesn’t really seem to be a natural byproduct.”
Let it Win speaks often lyrically of transitions and in-betweens, whether it is of literal or metaphorical seasons.
“Fall and spring are awesome because that’s when huge shifts of energy happen,” Neuharth says, explaining that the more concrete oppositional seasons of winter and summer bring an intensity that is tiring. Mid April seems to be a natural time for Let it Win to have entered the world for this very reason. On the record, Neuharth and Miller write of long days, long nights, and finding comfort in a life that seems to stretch and blur.
This past late summer, Let it Win entered constant rotation in my house. It played while I made dinner, while I washed dishes, and while I commuted to work. Let it Win was comforting in a way that stood apart from the angry, fuzzy, guitar-solo-studded soundtrack of my summer.
The same week I began really indulging in the record, I brought home my extremely fearful foster cat, Beanie. Beanie lived in the rafters of a drop ceiling for ten years, terrified of the other cats in his house and especially of any human interaction. He then resided in the animal shelter for five months, equally frozen. For the first two weeks of Beanie’s stay in my home, he did not leave his cubby or even turn his face away from the wall. Often when I went to change his food or water, he would fearfully aggress forward, hissing and spitting. Just when I would think we were making progress, there would be an unexpected movement or noise and he would go right back to being defensive. Bringing Beanie home was immensely challenging for both of us, and I often wondered if I was doing the wrong thing forcing him to be in a home when he was so fearful of humans. While trying to make him comfortable, I was also trying myself to settle into my new apartment after unexpectedly moving and feeling vastly uncomfortable in my new surroundings. I found myself listening to title track Let it Win almost as a mantra: “This complexity sure weighs on you / And I don’t want it to / Lay its head in your bed / It wants a song sung too / Just tuck it in and let it win / Tell it it’s all right / When morning comes I know that we’ll / Have another try.”
I let night and morning pass, night and morning pass, until finally Beanie began joining me for the in-betweens. He still disappears back into his box for most of the day when the house is busier and louder, but in the early mornings and late evenings he enjoys the silence sitting near me as we get to know each other and learn a new level of patience, forgiveness, and self-comfort on the other side of the grief.
“My intention with (the phrase let it win) was just to soften and stop fighting the things that you don’t have control over,” Neuharth says. “You can’t fight the universe. Sometimes, just let it win. You don’t have to always be fighting.”
Neu Blume’s debut full-length long-play Let it Win is available for streaming and purchase on Bandcamp. The record is also available for purchase on a limited edition vinyl LP on the band’s website. Let it Win was recorded in Arizona 2023 at Oracle Recording Studios.
Riley Kirk is a multimedia creative and journalist. She loves finding inspiration in the DIY scene, music, and this beautiful city. She has published pieces with Grain of Salt Magazine (archived) and the Pittsburgh Independent, all of which you can read from her instagram @noneofusaregoingback.
This month’s articles are produced with support from the Frick Pittsburgh in conjunction with their landmark exhibition The Scandinavian Home: Landscape and Lore. Get cozy as the seasons change with David and Susan Warner’s collection of paintings, tapestries, and sculptures from around the Nordic region. Tickets now on sale.
PETRICHOR 
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