There exists a particular magic in music that doesn’t announce itself but rather settles into consciousness like morning mist.
Melissa Lingo’s ‘What Once Was’, recorded under her meka guise, possesses exactly this quality—a hauntingly poetic meditation that transforms the archetype of the hag from monster into keeper of forgotten wisdom. Closing her album ‘The Rabbit’ with graceful fingerpicked acoustics and spectral fiddle work, the track channels the hazy sweet spot of ’60s-’70s folk whilst maintaining something entirely contemporary in its emotional vulnerability. Her voice carries the transcendent quality that places her alongside Joan Baez and Vashti Bunyan, yet filtered through a sensibility that understands how personal pain can metamorphose into moments of beauty and connection.
This is folk music that rewards quiet attention, casting spells through stripped-back arrangements and evocative storytelling that lingers long after the final notes fade. For those drawn to Adrianne Lenker’s intimacy or Joanna Newsom’s mythic narratives, meka offers something equally compelling—a voice that finds power in understatement and discovers hope in the spaces between grief. It’s the sound of someone who understands that sometimes the most profound truths emerge not through grand gestures but through whispered incantations.
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