It’s a continually on-again message that certain records need repeated listens to earn the full reward of an artist’s creative intentions. There is so much it’s not even worth mentioning, but we already just did, so here goes another one…
On Mariam The Believer’s new album, Breathing Techniques, which was released October 4th, a spacious hypnotic vocal passage sounds like Radiohead Kid—experimentalism joined at the hip of Nick Cave at his imploring.
Mariam The Believer (the solo moniker of Swedish artist Mariam Wallenti) escapes any pop or accessible idioms to arrive at a conclusive meditative/mantra state of music that combines jazz elements at their most atmospheric and folk nods at their most adventurous. Breathing Techniques showcases Wallentin’s respect and devotion to air, breath, and space, conveying a feeling of openness to the world and to oneself. Glide talked to Wallenti just before the release to get her grappling take on what it means to make music beyond the status quo…
It’s been a while since your last Mariam The Believer release. What have you been doing in that time gap, and what makes music better suited for Mariam The Believer than your other musical projects?
Well, I released my last MTB full-length in 2017, so yes, a while ago, but in between then and now, I have released two EPs and written and performed a quite complex and staged song-circle named The Wishing Well written for five voices, keys, and percussion. Besides working with MTB, I have also released two albums with the free-jazz orchestra Fire! Orchestra, done many guest appearances, written music for dance pieces, and produced some other people’s music, and then, of course, everyday life like the pandemic, moving to the countryside, giving birth to some kids, and so on…
Breathing Techniques is a weave of mantras, a guide to seeing and registering the small things, the tiny animals, the elements, the presence, and the precious. While writing and recording – how did your environments play a part in forming the musical inspiration for the album? Where were you living and finding creative inspiration?
When moving to the countryside just before the pandemic and at the same time giving birth to my first daughter, well, that slowed life down a lot for me. Finding new keys to open some for me never opened doors. As a ”big city girl” ready for another chapter in life that was a significant transformation, I believe it formed quite a big part of this album. The feeling of nearness, finding inspiration in everyday life, and those small miracles happening in the present moment, just like breath. I’m not trying to search to much for the meaning, the purpose, the complexity, just seeing that it is all there, it’s just about how you register it and can take it in. And then, of course, life moves in waves, so some days are surfing, and others there´s a storm going on..
As an artist, where do you find your most inspiring moments, and how did Breathing Techniques compare to your prior recordings or albums in terms of inspiration?
I do my best to live a life that I find meaningful, trying to battle all those thoughts of doubt, despair, and shadows. As soon as you feel satisfaction and release, it lurks and hides around the corner, so it’s just me trying to follow. But yes, as written above, I somehow moved on to another chapter in life recently, having spent my last 10 + years traveling and playing as my main purpose in life, and now, at the moment, mostly being in my house in a little glade in the forest next to the coast (in Sweden) raising two daughters. But the funny thing is that I’ve never found singing more meaningful and strong. I can really sense the tingling in my fingers, the body sensations after singing for a little while, so my belief that singing is healing has never been clearer, and my focus is still there, just in other forms and shapes, like everything is moving so is this, inspiration as an ever-changing stream. Looking back, being in my body became a big inspiration for this album—that raw and intense feeling of being free and stuck inside and with it.
You said you have a modern chamber setup during your live shows, with two string players on viola da gamba, cello, and viola, grand piano, keyboards, and percussion. How did you arrive at that setup, and what are the biggest challenges of orchestrating your sound live and performing the songs as they appear on record?
I did an EP in 2019 with a string quartet and, at the same period, played quite a few shows where MTB material was arranged for symphony orchestras and bigger string ensembles. So it came naturally to keep the sound of strings for this album, but mixed with keys, I just wanted more of that clean piano sound for this one. And I also use a harp on a few songs here. Most of the songs are played live on the album; we wanted that dense sound of people in a room together the unique tension that creates. So that makes it easy to play it live, almost the same way.
Do you ever stray from the way songs sound on record and improvise?
Yes, I believe that’s the way of music: it should bend and move and be alive. Of course, not ”fuck a song up” just because text and a frame of a song is something to respect and treat carefully. But what’s the point of copy-paste?
Do you have any favorite venues that are ideally suited to your sound? As you look into the audience, describe a Mariam the Believer performance.
For this album specifically, I think the acoustics of a wooden church would be great. High ceilings, a lot of big windows with yellow, pale light shining through, dark, almost blurry shadows sliding around on the walls, shadows of branches, a wooden floor that is cracking a bit and making noise when my musicians are feeling the beat. Or even better, outside, on a cliff, or maybe around that little pond close to my house, which would be ideal for these songs.
But mostly, I enjoy small spaces. Enough so the audience is not directly on stage, but it still has that intimate and small vibe, so it feels like we’re in it together. Like all of our energies, we must share something for a little while; a small and brief capsule in time, starting, moving, ending, is gone. I can sing, open my mouth, and almost be afraid of spitting on someone’s jacket collar. Even though this album is quite intimate, I can be pretty loose and free sometimes on stage, believe it or not. I do enjoy that anarchistic and punky vibe no matter the project I’m with; my best shows ever have been in moist basements or industrial hangars. The room does not play the most significant part as long as the audience is there and with you, supporting with some attention.
Your musical sound is very meditative. What other artists or albums do you listen to most daily?
Thank you. Well, this project is kind of me reaching out—away a bit, to the clouds, to the sky. But then you have probably not heard some of my other projects, like my old drum and vocal duo Wildbirds & Peacedrums. I am reaching for the soil and the body, not the meditative part of me. I need it all to feel complete and put different energy in different places—songwriting vs. improvising, drum patterns vs. flowing keyboards. Mind and heart are all mixed up.
How did you come about the stage/artist name – Mariam The Believer?
With my first album, Blood Donation, I thought a lot about giving, not having the answers but instead asking questions, and about hope, what that is, and how that feels. So, The Believer is about hoping and believing for something better to come.
You have collaborated with Feist, Adrienne Lenker, Lykke Li, Deerhoof and others. Why do you think such respected artists have continually reached out to collaborate with you?
We have met and known each other and moved in the same direction during longer or shorter parts of life. I hope I’m good at what I do, trying to do it honestly and intentionally. With some people, you connect, and with others, you don’t. I’m grateful to continually meet people who inspire me, whether it’s another artist or my nurse-retired neighbor.
What other artists do you hope to collaborate with one day?
Just people who have good energy and are curious, kind, and challenging.
