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Track of the Day: Mieke – Sleeping Alone
Today’s track of the day comes courtesy of Canadian songwriter Mieke (aka Elissa Meilke) – check out the beautiful ‘Sleeping Alone’ below.
A familiar story of facing problematic situations with producers and major labels over the last few years, the young songwriter has battled with people either trying to take her creativity in a direction that felt artificial, or signing on for a career without creative involvement.
The result of going it alone and wrestling back control of her artistic merit and vision, her forthcoming debut EP is a testament to allowing a musician to flourish naturally and flesh out their own persona without being cajoled or pigeonholed. Working with Don Kerr and Howie Beck (Feist, Hayden, Bahamas), Meilke comments on the process of recording the EP:
“When I wrote my debut EP I thought I wrote these songs about someone else. It turns out I needed to hear them most of all. I needed to make something honest and raw. Something strange and vulnerable. Something thoughtful and free. Something that was authentic to where I’m at. Don records out of his house so we did the vocals in his dining room and the instruments in his basement. That let me fully connect with the feeling I had wherever I wrote the songs- in Toronto, in Tokyo, in my small town high school, or in London- and to go back to that moment.”
Growing up in a forest in Ontario and spending a charmed childhood wandering around recording songs on a tiny tape player has lent a dreamy charm to Mieke’s songwriting that’s highly evocative and tender. The work of a head in the clouds but with eyes fixed on the end goal, she retains a sense of innocence but also embodies a blossoming young woman’s confidence and strong-willed sense of creative direction that sees a host of intricate layers of melody and thoughtful lyricism combine to real effect.
Mieke’s debut EP is released 28th August