The aim of Bristol-based, New York-bred Angélica Allen is to craft dreamy yet danceable Avant-Pop with her project MyMidnightHeart – and with new work called “Anew” she most definitely succeeds, combining ethereal harmonies, hypnotic drums, and surreal soundscapes. Her work is multi-layered, sending listeners into a calming and dreamy space.
Angélica retreated from performing to focus on music production and sound design to be able to fully control her sound along its journey from conception to completion. Exploring various expressions of her art while the world tumbled into chaos during the pandemic, Angélica cultivated a singular and sacred sonic space through her music production which evolved into a multi-sensory presentation of her work.
Each forthcoming release will be offered in multiple formats including remixes, visuals, and a variety of physical and sensory offerings that the listener can experience both from home and through intimate performances. These carefully crafted installations blur the line between digital and organic, viewer and performer, art and wellness.
The first installment is “anew,” a track written when Angélica was pregnant with her second child and grieving the woman she had fought to become. The songwriter confides, “Four years after my daughter’s birth I had only just begun to feel like myself again. My brain, my body, my blood finally felt like they belonged to me. I decided it would be my year. My moment. But when I realized I was pregnant with my son, I knew I would have to start the journey all over again.”
“anew” speaks about how pregnancy and early-motherhood requires an ego-death. It is a completely devotional practice; sacrificing all of yourself for the survival and happiness of someone else. Angélica continues, “I struggled so much reclaiming my identity with my firstborn, I wrote this song wanting to allow myself to enter a speculative space where I gave of myself easily… Opening to the possibility of being alchemized in the process.”
Accompanying “anew” is a new series of modern meditative practices that Angélica has created called My Midnight Rites. These multi-sensory in-home rituals are aimed to complement, intensify and completely transcend the traditional listening experience.
My Midnight Rites can be purchased through the My Midnight Heart website and through Spotify’s merch integration.