Kelly Kirwan
MIYNT's croon is hushed, lingering over each and every word of her lyrics, her consonants burning lethargically together to comprise one elongated pronunciation. It's a slow-slinking, almost feline deliberateness which swarms our latest Stockholm import, who's absorbed the influences of her father's old '80s records (of the Swedish punk persuasion), and added a lackadaisical disco garnish. Her melodies shimmer in grey shades, as if we were watching a grainy black-and-white movie, whose reel was filled with rolling shots of urban landscapes, and slow-motion harmless acts of rebellion. It's a genre of music that simmers, garnering comparisons to a grittier Lana Del Ray.
Behind the musical moniker is Fredrika Ribbing, who first started to turn heads with her sultry, acoustically-strummed cover of Britney Spears’ "...Baby One More Time" in 2015. With her soft melancholy, rough edges, and slow-wave style, Ribbing sidestepped lingering fears that she started too late in the game (where pop stars are often groomed beginning in their single digits) and went on to release her latest, Ep. no 1, with B3SCI Records.
MIYNT’s six-track debut had the helping hand of producer Daniel Nigro, whose ear for soundscapes has previously worked with artists like Carly Rae Jepsen, JR JR, and Sky Ferreira. With MIYNT’s vision and Nigro’s guidance, the two have created a pleasingly moody palette, painted with rich and hazy instrumentation and highlighted by sighing vocals.
Take the gently unfolding “Bird,” which opens with MIYNT's signature murmuring lisp of a croon: “Say do you really want to know / Patiently I let them go / Through my window / You light a cigarette and look at me / Like I was some kind of threat / Someday I’ll confess.” Her voice is a haunting rumination laid over muted swells of reverb, later joined by an intimate guitar and cymbal-esque percussion. It’s a featherweight sort of sadness, which adds to the trance-like, floating quality of her work, rather than pulling us into a dark spell.
Then there’s "The Deer or the Hunter," which opens on a pulsating, high-pitched synth and sharp percussion. MIYNT’s voice melts, having the seductive quality of a heat mirage, warping her surrounding scenery. The song switches between stripped-down, quiet moments with a bare instrumentation and a lush, densely undulating backdrop. “Here I lost my cards / Here my lost notion / I swim with the sharks back to the ocean,” MIYNT sings lazily, the song pivoting on the question of predator or prey, and in all honesty, we've probably slipped into the latter role. Despite the slightly ominous vibes she emits, we still walk forward, pupils dilated with fascination. MIYNT has a sedated hook, and it sinks into us quick.
While MIYNT may be a Swedish native, she has the easy swagger of a Los Angeles transplant that’s touched down in Echo Park. With a grungy tint and electronic flourishes, she makes music that’s magnetic—piquing our curiosity for the hopefully inevitable Ep. no 2.