Anna Mieke – Theatre – Album Review
by Killian Laher

Anna Mieke is a singer and multi-instrumentalist from Wicklow.  This is her second album and it’s a collection of bewitched moodiness. It opens quietly with the gorgeous slow burn of Twins.  Mieke sings in hushed tones, accompanied by a bed of picked guitars and gentle synths, setting the tone for the album.  The spooked-out For A Time follows, which builds through aching swells of synths and more deftly played guitar.

The highs keep coming, right across the album.  The slow march of Mannequin has a wonderful glacial drift for six and a half minutes or so.  Coralline is longer again at nearly eight minutes, but there’s not a note wasted.  The music quietens down halfway through, evolving into an exceedingly gorgeous passage, evoking some of the musical flourishes on Gemma Hayes’ debut album.  You’ll get absolutely lost in it, some of the loveliest four minutes you’ll hear this year.

Much of this sounds equally nostalgic and timeless.  Seraphim has the feeling of prime John Martyn, Nick Drake, while Mieke sounds like she’s channelling Joni Mitchell on her version of Go Away From My Window.

Anna Mieke’s second album is an immersive, muted triumph, and a late candidate for Irish album of the year.

For A Time