A couple of weeks into the new year, the Nashville-based indie-folk singer-songwriter Mynolia will unveil her first full-length album, Salt Around My Bed. We’ve already shared the early singles “Holy Line” and “Take The Mountain By Surprise.” Yet the track that has struck me most is “Dragon,” released yesterday. It emerges as a quiet, entrancing reverie crafted from acoustic guitars and psychedelic-flavored flutes, and it evokes early Beth Orton—a compliment I mean sincerely. Here’s Mynolia’s take on the track:
This song is really about discovering something you didn’t know you were missing. If “Holy Line” is unknowingly dreaming about it, “Dragon” is about living it, even if you try not to. “Never thought I’d be seen hiding between the trees. It’s a tumble I know from forever ago. Like the old folks have told, stories ancient as dragons.
When something finds you even while you’re actively concealing from it, it can feel cosmic. The path becomes clear and must be followed; it feels both intimate and vast, like a grand folktale. I loved watching this piece grow, from home recording and organic shuffle drums by Florian Holoubek to synth swells by Rich Ruth, horns by Corin Droullard and flute by Sam Que. It was among the first few tracks I laid down, then revised and added to, and then shelved for months at a stretch. Lyrically, the opening verse and the closing line act as bookends to a major chapter of my life, one of unburdening, embracing chance, and leaping into the unknown.
Check it out below.
Salt Around My Bed is out 1/15 on Full Time Hobby.
