Humbird

Siri Undlin has not announced her third full-length album under the name Humbird. She has, however, unveiled three new songs in the past six weeks. And it has been two years since the release of her outstanding second album, “Still Life,” which makes those three new songs feel like the run-up to … something.

That something is probably a third Humbird album. But in the absence of confirmation, let’s focus on Undlin’s three new songs and how they reflect the Minneapolis singer-songwriter’s ever-evolving folk sound.

‘North Country Girl’

Undlin grew up in a musical home, with a preacher mom who played hymns on the piano and “super-supportive” parents who made her and her three siblings pick and practice and instrument. By the time she was 12 years old, she was writing songs.

“They weren’t, like, good,” Undlin said. “I was giving it a good try back then.”

She also grew up in the home state of folk icon Bob Dylan, and her earliest work as Humbird, as heard on her 2019 album “Pharmakon,” is more traditionally folky. So it makes sense that her new song “North Country Girl” is a gorgeous, starlit folk song, a response to Dylan’s 1963 song “Girl from the North Country,” and a love letter to her home region.

“Some leave when the rivers freeze. Some go when the summer ends,” she sings. “Sometimes they don’t come back again. Some of us prefer that fair northern wind.”

‘Cornfields and Roadkill’

Undlin wrote much of “Still Life” amid unrest in Minneapolis in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, reckoning with anger, grief and white supremacy. “Cornfields and Roadkill” finds her furthering this thematic exploration, singing about broken dreams, stolen lands and environmental destruction against crunchy, Neil Young-ish Southern rock.

Writing about political and social issues, however, is not new for Undlin, who says a lot of “Pharmakon” is about wrestling with the concept of gender through the lens of fairy tales and mythology.

“It’s funny how people hear things so differently,” she said. “I think people recognize anger as political a lot more easily than songs that are more subtle or quiet. So I’m sure people will hear it (as more political). But I’ve always been pretty open to writing about these kinds of things (and) I’ve worked really hard to make it not preachy.”

‘Greensleeves’

Undlin studied folklore and fairy tales in college, then traveled to Europe to soak in the traditional stories and music of the region.

Initially, she was there for academic purposes, but she soon realized she would rather be writing and performing music.

“In particular, I think I was influenced by the Celtic music tradition,” she said. “I was in Scotland and Ireland, and it’s such a communal thing there.”

Undlin’s newest release is “Greensleeves,” which most will recognize as a traditional English folk song that dates back centuries. (You might know it better as “What Child is This?”) Humbird’s version is a dusky slow burn, giving the ancient tune a slinky, almost sinister feel.

“If you sit with those (stories and songs) long enough, you can’t help but pick up what’s powerful and what works,” she said. “They’re just such strong traditions. There’s a reason they’ve endured all these years.”

What: Humbird, with Erin Cole-Baker

When: 7 p.m. Thursday

Cost: $20

Where: Open Space Event Studios, 220 NE Lafayette Ave., Bend

Contact: openspace.studio