Anna Mieke Shares New Single/Video “Red Sun (Live)”
January 5, 2024 BY Emma Orland
Ireland’s Anna Mieke today shared “Red Sun (Live),” a reworked version of the closing track of her acclaimed 2022 LP Theatre (Nettwerk). The spellbinding live rendition arrives with a clip of its recording at Dundalk, IE’s Black Mountain Studios, interspersed with gorgeous natural footage and brought to life by videomaker Anna Heisterkamp. “It was an exciting and very satisfying project to work on as it was all arranged and recorded in a very short space of time, so there was a sort of tension and adrenaline rush behind everything,” explains Anna Mieke. The spacious track features new collaborators Niamh Dalton (fiddle) and Sam Clague (electric guitar, bass clarinet), as well as live bandmates Ryan Hargadon (on alto saxophone) and Matthew Jacobson (on percussion). Stream it at all DSPs HERE.
“Red Sun (Live)” follows Anna Mieke’s November single “Ornament,” a Theatre B-side that earned support from Rolling Stone (‘Songs You Need to Know’), WNYC’s Soundcheck (“a beautifully woven web of sounds…while the arrangement becomes quite expansive, it never loses the intimacy created by Mieke’s pensive yet comforting vocals”), Brooklyn Vegan, Northern Transmissions, and more.
Theatre and its singles (“Seraphim,” “Mannequin,” “For A Time,” “Twin”) arrived to great press from NPR Music, WNYC New Sounds (Soundcheck session/interview), Brooklyn Vegan, FLOOD Magazine, Cool Hunting, Guitar World, Uncut, MOJO, The Guardian, Shindig!, and more. The album envelopes listeners in the warmth of Anna Mieke’s world, radiating with an intense heat that lies closer to the desert or the jungle than her hometown of Wicklow, IE. A captivating artistic statement, it finds Anna Mieke at her most assured and poetic as she contributes a challenging, exciting new voice to alt-folk.
Praise for Anna Mieke and Theatre:
“Beguiling and really rather wonderful” – Uncut (8/10)
“…eight lengthy bouts of exquisite thrumming folk, like she’s playing in a free-floating dreamtime”
– MOJO (4/5)
“Mieke mines a rich seam of nostalgia and loss – and her extensive travels – on a dreamlike second album” – The Guardian (4/5)
“The new song beautifully employs the richly layered sonic texture Anna Mieke cultivated in Theatre, with scratchy strings, flutes, clarinet, pattering drums, and acoustic guitar all featured in the mix.”
– Brooklyn Vegan on “Mannequin”
“Mesmerizing…The alt-folk track balances sensations both gentle and engulfing.”
– Cool Hunting on “For A Time”
“a warm embrace of stealthily picked guitar, saxophone ringlets, propelling drums, and a voice that’s both decadent and woody, like temple-cleansing incense” – FLOOD on “Seraphim”
“…a lush, beautifully orchestrated composition that showcases her talents as an arranger and as a vocalist. That rollin’ ’n’ tumblin’ acoustic riff serves as the song’s centerpiece, and the perfect backdrop to its dynamic rhythms and dramatic string arrangements.”
– Guitar World on “For A Time” (‘This Week’s Essential Guitar Tracks’)
“a colorful and life-affirming album, both sonically and lyrically” – Northern Transmissions
