Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter takes a break from The Jealous Girlfriends and settles down with someone new.
“I don’t kid myself that I write music that everybody’s going to love,” says Holly Miranda, referring to the captivating collection of songs found within ‘The Magician’s Private Library’, her debut album.
“I think it’s a record that you have to sit with for a second, let it sink in and maybe listen to a couple times. It’s not a hit maker,” she insists, despite Kanye West’s backing of ‘Slow Burn Treason’ and the production by close friend David Sitek of TV On the Radio fame. Miranda’s first solo appearance may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but its enchanting soundscapes certainly leave an impression.
Moving to New York at the age of sixteen, Miranda soon formed indie four-piece The Jealous Girlfriends, but while the green-eyed band enjoyed moderate success in the Big Apple, she was eager to produce solo material under Sitek’s wing.
“I’m realising more recently that my friends’ bands inspired me a lot,” she says. “I think they all influence the way that I write and the way that I hear music,” but at times her sound is closer to Curtis Mayfield than namedropped pals Yeah Yeah Yeahs, with kickback beats and soulful horns that bear resemblance to R&B recordings of the past.
Words by Jake Young
WHERE: New York
WHAT: New wave
UNIQUE FACT: Miranda loves Shuggie Otis.
GET 3 SONGS: ‘Joints’, ‘Waves’, ‘Slow Burn Treason’
