MIA DOI TODD - Manzanita

Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter of Japanese descent Mia Doi Todd, after a brief stint with Sony (for her previous album, "The Golden State"), returns after two years to record her fifth work, "Manzanita", released on Plug Research. Having set electronics aside, Todd delivers a simple yet engaging album, split down the middle between joy and desolation, dominated by her voice, soft and enveloping (though somewhat lacking in distinctiveness), while the band mostly limits itself to chiselling out delicate, respectful accompaniments.

Combining different moods is a tricky task, one that can jeopardise the internal balance of a record. Although the first impression can be disorienting, once the album has spun a few times on the player, you get used to it, not least because the atmosphere remains unique throughout, always hazy and hushed. So it happens that you move from the tender, shimmering elegy of "What If We Do?" to the weeping recitation over guitar arpeggios, tribal percussion and tolling piano of "My Room Is White", before being swept up, without batting an eyelid, by the joyous, string- and horn-arranged gallop of "The Last Night of Winter".

In this constant whirl, the tracks that leave the deepest mark, besides the two already mentioned, are the stark "Luna Lune", a bleak evocation of ghosts; the heartfelt plea of "Deep at Sea", the record's most rock-oriented moment; the closing sweet lullaby for voice and guitar "I Gave You My Heart"; while, surprisingly (even within this framework), there's the pleasant reggae of "Casa Nova".

The impression, structurally speaking, is of standing before songs by Nick Drake, albeit issuing from the womb of a female singer-songwriter (rather than a male one) and purged of their author's inner tragedy (and genius) - which, just to be clear, makes a considerable difference.

Even though it risks being overshadowed by such comparisons, "Manzanita" remains a varied and inspired record, the work of a mature artist with a clear vision.

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30/04/2026