Recording: Merganzer

Artist: Merganzer

Song: Songs Without Words

Recorded at Markham House: City Building Lab (Wavelength Music Festival 16 – Day 2), February 13, 2016.

Merganzer - Songs Without Words

Wavelength's sixteenth anniversary festival was a little less adventurous than last year's sesquidecade spectacular. For the first time in recent memory, the festival settled into one home base for three nights and the programming eschewed retrospective turns for a future-focused weekend, daring audiences to invest in the musical here-and-now. The lone excursion away from The Garrison came with this afternoon all-ages show in Markham Village — a cozy up-close-and-personal affair that offered a chance to sit on the floor and listen. The field trip vibe was completed with a school bus ride that shuttled attendees away to the evening show. Since the last time I saw Mika Posen presenting her solo songs she has been joined by Katie Hurdon on keyb and vox. A key addition as their voices blended effortlessly and beautifully, adding even more depth to Posen's chamber-pop pieces, occasionally held together by ghostly fragments of looped violin. (And also, since the last time I saw Posen playing, these songs have been released as an album.)