Katie Mullins

Katie Mullins releasing 'Three Songs' (stream one co-prod. Shahzad Ismaily)

Brooklyn singer/songwriter Katie Mullins is self-releasing a new three-song EP called Three Songs next week (10/26), and apparently the EP was “the result of having no intention to write or sing again.” Via press release: “Following the third time she hemorrhaged her left vocal chord, a 10-day initiation into the world of meditation, a seemingly miraculous healing, and a fallow period of musical output, this mini collection of songs ‘flowed involuntarily,’ says Mullins, ‘during winter walks from one teaching gig to the next.'”

The first song, “Crocuses,” was co-produced and engineered by Shahzad Ismaily (of Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog, Secret Chiefs 3), and the other two songs were co-produced by Roarke Menzies and engineered by Sam Wadsworth. We’re premiering “Crocuses,” which sees her singing in a traditional British folk style, backed by layers of atmosphere also created by her own voice. It’s really cool stuff, and it manages to make a very old style of music sound very modern. Here’s what Katie tells us:

The inspiration for this piece came about in late March after I overheard two women talking about the fact that it was snowing in late March. I heard someone say, “I can’t believe it’s snowing on the last day of March,” and she answered saying, “I’m from Massachusetts, there’s always snow on the crocuses.” That image of beauty in imperfection and in unlikely combinations inspired me, even despite the fact that it conjures the impending doom of climate change. Regardless of disliking snow in late March in NYC, and the signs of climate change, the image is still comforting to me because it is a reminder that our expectations of things we wish for are often marred with undesirable things.

The second verse is about the light, the way it literally streams in the room in slivers that illuminate the dust particles. When I’m teaching preschoolers, this phenomenon is always distracting to them. They love to touch the light, a thing that can’t be felt. And I love to touch the light too, and we all feel its power. We are all striving towards the light, reaching for our desires, reaching for what calls to us, and yet, those things are often untouchable, but we all know that experience of reaching, which is fulfilling in itself.

Katie just wrapped up a residency in Cambridge last night (10/18), and she now has one upcoming show: NYC’s Trans-Pecos on November 3 with Swimming Bell, David Kamm, and Cotwell. Tickets are on sale.