Further Information

Hi everyone :) My name is María and as an artist I call myself MIMRA. 'Mimra' is an old Icelandic word. I'm about to release Sinking Island, the first album where I've taken on most key roles of making an album. I wrote all of the music and lyrics and also made the arrangements. I released my debut album back in 2009, so I feel it's about time to bring new music into the world. My music and lyrics show transformation and handle themes such as love, heartache, anger and happiness. I'd like to invite you to become a part of this project. I need your support in order to release the album as a CD and on vinyl and to throw a release concert.

Now, as we launch this crowdfunding, I'd like to share with you the third single of the album, Mushroom Cloud, about how loudly my family laughs:

The process

I started performing under the guise MIMRA in The Netherlands about three years ago when I decided to arrange some new songs for a small orchestra. There, the music of MIMRA was born with the help of amazing musicians in a kind of orchestral pop or art pop genre. We had some great concerts in The Hague, including some that were recorded live, where the audience sat amongst us listening through headphones. Here's a video from one of them:

By the end of my years in the Netherlands, I knew I had to focus on bringing the music of MIMRA to life. Some years prior, I'd become familiar with electronic production, producing in the band Early Late Twenties. I moved to London with the purpose of recording and producing this album, Sinking Island, mixing up the worlds of orchestral pop and electro pop within my songs. I studied at Goldsmiths, University of London, where they have a great music department, amazing tutors and a perfect recording studio where I spent most my time sculpting this album as my master's degree project.

It was a huge project taken on with the help of an international group of friends. A moment of global epiphany for me was when my friend, Sara, a Bulgarian sound engineer, recorded the double bass playing of a Greek friend, Vasilis, in The Hague, sending those recordings to me, the Icelander in London. Sigríður Hulda is designing the album artwork with her gorgeous drawing of a glacier. Without these amazing people, this couldn't have happened, so thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Studio (hard) work (and fun)

Thank you for reading this far and considering becoming a part of the project by helping us out. That would be so amazing! When you pledge a certain amount, you will get the rewards mentioned; the album on CD, vinyl or as digital download. Pledging more rewards you with tickets to the release concert or a private concert in Reykjavík once everything is ready :)

Thank you so much for your help!

Yours sincerely, María / MIMRA
www.mimramusic.com

Written behind the scenes about Sinking Island:

"Production wise, it’s widescreen, amorphous mix of electronica, pop, singer songwriter and classical. There are a wide range of timbres and styles here. It could well be messy and confusing, but the production is tied together so well that it largely sits in the musical world as one. Styles, tempos and moods are well balanced and placed throughout the album to make for an engaging listen. It is an album that needs to be listened to again and again to fully discover all that it holds."
- James Ewers, professor/composer -

“MIMRA ambitiously sows numerous genres and sounds together to great effect, expertly manoeuvring between delicate sparseness and powerful vivacity. Her vocals are astounding, both in terms of range and dexterity, and function as the glue which unifies the eclecticism of her music. The passion and strength of MIMRA's voice simply cannot be ignored and aligns her with the best of them."
- Alex Woolaver, musicologist -

'Play With Fire' music video made by Andvari Production

The songs and everyone who made Sinking Island happen

All lyrics and music written and arranged by MIMRA / María Magnúsdóttir
Recording, mix and production by MIMRA / María Magnúsdóttir
except for:
Co-production on 'Play With Fire': SAKIMA
Brass arrangement on 'Feathers': Sylvía Hlynsdóttir
Brass recording engineer: Sylvía Hlynsdóttir
Double bass recording engineer: Sara Teofilova
Bass recording engineer: Kristján Hafsteinsson
Accordion recording engineer: Carlo van Nierop
String recording engineer on 'Coraline': Nina Kraszewska

01 Our Great Escape
02 Play With Fire
03 Feathers
04 Mushroom Cloud
05 Söngur Valkyrjunnar
06 Build A Home
07 Sinking Island
08 Sunshine Has Been Drinking
09 Reiðiþula
10 Fuel
11 Coraline
12 I Cannot Sleep Tonight

Vocals, piano, keys and sansula: MIMRA
Guitars: Sammy Hughes and Ged Flood
Drums: Barnabas Poffley
Double bass: Vasilis Stefanopoulos
Electric bass: Kristján Hafsteinsson
Violins: Tim Gardner, Úlfhildur Þorsteinsdóttir and Estela Bernita Bernés
Viola: Þóra Margrét Sveinsdóttir
Cellos: Francesca Ter-Berg and Célia Torres Ruiz
Trumpet: Sylvía Hlynsdóttir
Trombones: Valentin Guenther and Oliver Emmit
Clarinet and bass clarinet: Peter Wilson-Lambert
Accordion: Wilco Oomkes
Choir: Isaac Sakima, Charlotte Enegren, Amanda Mayo and Shawn Lyon

Assistance with mixing: Mikko Gordon and Nick Powell
Mastering: Bjarni Bragi Kjartansson, Hljómbetrunarhúsið
Album artwork and design: Sigríður Hulda Sigurðardóttir
Photography: Tinna Schram

Takk!