This Is What Love Looks Like

When Mirel Wagner released her self-titled debut in 2012, it seemed to go unnoticed here in the States. That isn’t too unfathomable, since she’s from Finland, but her raspy, acoustic folk debut should have called for a little more excitement. Thankfully, her second full-length, When the Cellar Children See the Light of Day, is getting much more of the play it deserves.

Compared to her debut, Cellar Children is crisper but still contains the same stripped-down technique and Wagner’s vocals are still soothing and yet somewhat dark lyrically. And instead of being a one-lady show during the recording process, this time she hooked up with well-known producer Sasu Ripatti, also known as Luomo, Sistol and Vladislav Delay, who happened to own a cabin on the same Finnish island her record label is based. While Sasu works primarily with electronic music, Wagner’s album is all stripped down acoustic folk music.

Her lyrics in each song tell an intriguing story, usually dealing with love lost, death or the unknown: “See a girl dressed as a woman, he is a man who lies,” she recites in “Taller Than Tall Trees.” “See that girl fall apart soon as his shadow touches her heart / I’ve climbed a thousand years just to give you a kiss.” You get the same sad feeling in “Ellipsis:” “Laughing the loudest, but your smile don’t meet your eyes… time will bring you to your knees.”

And it gets darker. On “Oak Tree” you’re basically being lulled to sleep with a pretty song referencing “sweet dreams,” but all the imagery leads to dying and being buried under a tree. And then there are lyrics that are just creepy: “One, two, three, four, what’s underneath the floor?” in opener “1, 2, 3, 4.” And straight up murder is happening in closer “Goodnight:” “I’ll hold down the pillow with all my might, and tomorrow will be all right.”

Neither her debut nor Cellar Children should ever go unnoticed, and on this album, her strumming demands to be heard and every note is distinct and recognizable. Cellar Children isn’t meant to be background music; it’s meant to be listened to and dissected.