Kevin Bronson on September 14th, 2012

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It’s been a long trip for Luke Messimer, and maybe a strange one too, but certainly circular. Messimer was one of two frontmen in the Orange County-bred quintet Mississippi Man, which released a very promising album in mid-2010 and then called it quits by the end of that year. After the breakup, he lived in Seattle and played as a sideman, and then spent some time in a cabin in the woods of northern Arizona. There, he worked up the songs that would become his debut as Northern Youth before returning to southern California. Messimer is still a folkie at heart, and his songs suggest he might have a big heart at that, and on the debut album “Home” he’s expanded his arsenal of instrumentation. “I’ve been running / for a long time,” Messimer sings in the homecoming paean “Los Angeles,” a sweet, stripped-down track. Fans of Delta Spirit and Dr. Dog might take a shine to the single “She’s in the Wild,” which finds Messimer in his characteristic high register, racing to keep up with a driving rhythm.

||| Stream: “She’s in the Wild”:

||| Live: Northern Youth celebrates its album release with a show Sept. 29 at the Hotel Cafe.