Stockholm artist Miynt has released a new AA-side single consisting of the tracks “Give me palm trees and inner peace” and “Lovesong”.
The songs “address the inexorable digital ubiquity of modern-day human connection”. That sounds like heavy going or it might just mean people spend all their time texting each other rather than talking, a subject which has been covered by a multitude of artists.
But then she clarifies matters. The tracks are “songs about the internet” she says.
This is Miynt’s first new material of 2020 and the follow-up to her 2019 EP, Stay on Your Mind, which was an exploration of the human mind. It’s a case of back to her roots as she moves away from a previous electric sound towards what she did when she first started out.
The fact the mastering was done by a guy called Pete Lyman, who has worked with, inter alia, St Vincent caught my attention. Partly because Annie Clark wrote an entire album attacking ‘the ubiquity of modern day human connection’ and based a tour – Digital Witness – on it, and partly because Clark has often threatened to go back to her original sound but never quite made it there.
That’s not to say Miynt sounds anything like her. Musically it is a distinctly grungy sound, right out of some seedy suburb of Seattle, Olympia, or Portland (or what is left of it) rather then Södermalm but lyrically you could possibly draw some similarities.
She’s apparently been studying psychology while she’s been writing these songs and a flavour of that comes across as well, especially in the video for “Give me palm trees and inner peace” with its multiple languages, gobbledegook and assorted “mindf***s”.
The video is also notable, to me at least, for the self-produced stop-motion effect she’s used. I’ve come across it before, courtesy of Norway’s Sol Heilo, and especially her “Killing Karma” video. To be honest Heilo is streets ahead in her technique but it’s still good to see someone else giving it a go. It can be highly effective if you get it right.
Miynt has stayed occupied in the Stockholm arts scene this year, playing various live shows (pre-pandemic) and assembling a four-piece band for her project. She has also delved into the world of analogue production and recording live instrumentals. Much of her new material is also self-produced, a skill that Miynt continues to hone.
“Give me palm trees and inner peace” and “Lovesong”, are out now via B3SCI Records. Check out the new video below.
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