Now residing in Brooklyn, Berklee College of Music graduate Nan Macmillan was first raised by the sea in Massachusetts, then spent her high school years in the hills of Southern California, before studying poetry in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. The indie-folk-pop artist writes about the underlying threads connecting these chapters of her life — the search for self-understanding, deep joy and pain of loving another, peace found in the natural world, anxiety at the threat to its existence.
On her debut full-length album, From Both Eyes (due out March 8th), Macmillan explores the dark and hopeful corners of her heart and mind with lyrical precision and intricate sonic landscapes. The songs pack a punch, wandering with care between folk, alternative rock, and synth-pop tendencies. Co-produced by Hiss Golden Messenger’s Alex Bingham, the album was recorded at a lakehouse in southwest Virginia with Matt McCaughan (Bon Iver) on drums, her long-time friend Tyler Hutcherson on keys, Kim McMasters on electric guitar, and Saman Khoujinian (The Dead Tongues) engineering. Her music offers a gentle and fierce combination of sadness and hope, reverie and reality, feeling resistant to time’s passing and finding the rhythm of it all anyway.
Today Glide is offering an exclusive premiere of the standout track “Emerge.” Macmillan puts her soft and dreamy vocals on full display, backed by a minimal soundtrack of atmospheric instrumentation. The tension and drama slowly builds as she layers on percussion and synths to make for a dazzling work of folk-laced indie pop.
Macmillan describes the inspiration behind “Emerge”:
“‘Emerge was written in a songwriting class led by Buck Meek in March 2021. The song tracks my internal monologue through moments of tougher mental health. The line “take it as it comes in waves” set things in motion, the words a consolation in these darker moments and learning to ride the waves, accepting them for what they are. The song is also about hope and resilience in the midst of these challenges, a sureness that “happiness can be”. The arrangement began on electric guitar, but then we opened it up to a more electronic feel to capture the momentum and depth of feeling in the lyrics.”
LISTEN:
