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Hometown: Nashville, TN
Label: Indie, GoGirls Elite/GoGirlsMusic.com
Website: www.merryellenkirk.com
Sounds Like: A Fine Frenzy, Tori Amos, Regina Spektor, Sarah McLachlan, Kate Bush
Genre: Singer Songwriter
Pop music is malleable; it is fluid and carries with it a sense of emotional elasticity. Through our collected experiences, we connect with music on a primal level, with perceptions and associations both tangible and dream-like. While most musicians opt for a superficial understanding of these musical correlations, there are those who realize these innate forces and their ability to transform and sustain in equal measure.
But for singer-songwriter Merry Ellen Kirk, music is even more wide-ranging than this rather inclusive set of descriptions would have you believe. Having spent her early years in Mongolia—her parents were missionaries—she developed a diverse awareness of the world, and of what music can be when experienced through a different cultural lens. As a child, she began making up little ditties and developed an inescapable desire to create music; after a time, when her family returned home and settled down in Nashville, she came to realize that writing and performing music would have to be a large part of her future.
Described by Kirk as sitting “somewhere between Christina Perri & Ingrid Michaelson,” her music has slowly evolved since she released her debut record, “Invisible War,” back in 2009. Posited as an “introspective exploration into spiritual battles in our lives,” this album gave Kirk an outlet for her impressionistic impulses and began the process of pop acclimation that would go on to direct the trajectory of her music. Full of the bright emotional releases that would make their presence more fully known on her subsequent albums, these songs were the beginning steps that would lead her to “We Are the Dreamers,” her latest collection of emotionally-incisive pop songs.
Helping her realize this project is Aaron Krause, a musician and producer whom Kirk met back in 2010. She had written a duet called “Tonight” that was waiting for the right voice to complement her own, and she stumbled across Aaron at a concert where he was performing as the opening act for a friend’s band. They subsequently recorded an EP together as The Shakespeares. Shortly thereafter, she asked him to produce her sophomore album, “Firefly Garden,” and the two struck an immediate and lasting musical connection that would follow them in the intervening years.
Over the course of the last six years, her pop adaptation has served the needs of her records perfectly. Bits of piano, organ, synthetic melodies and rhythms and a love of the pomp and orchestrated theatricality of ‘80s pop music has given her songs a vivid and vibrant life all their own. Channeling the spirits of artists such as Tori Amos and Imogen Heap, she undermines listener expectation even as she provides a familiar foundation on which to build a unique pop-centric aesthetic.
With “We Are the Dreamers,” Kirk is looking for something far more communal and emotionally associative than has been indicated on any of her previous albums. There’s a sense that she is simply passing through each of her listener’s lives, giving each moment its own specific soundtrack. At times bombastic and euphoric and still far more reserved at other times, these songs cling tightly to a certain mid-‘90s nostalgia and wring it until the notes fall off like autumn leaves.
With Krause’s fluorescent production highlighting Kirk’s expressive voice, the songs on “We Are the Dreamers” develop split personalities. They are well aware of the heartache and suffering that can come from love and companionship, but they also want to believe in the transformative nature of music—and so does Kirk, and so do we. Moving from the more abstract associations of her earlier work to something slightly more accessible (while still maintaining a firm creative hand), she forms complete worlds of emotional instability and guides us through the hazardous terrain, leaving us whole but slightly battered on the other side.
Kirk turns all the tired clichés about love and lust and desperation inside out, allowing us to see how each affects the next in ways that are as unexpected as they are devastating. But there is hope too—the world is not always the dark and bleak world people make it out to be, and Kirk finds ways in which to shed some light with her songs through a selection of gorgeous harmonies and intricate arrangements. Kirk has commented that she wants her music to “make an impact on people’s lives…to encourage the next generation of dreamers to keep believing.” And across the ever-shifting landscape of “We Are the Dreamers,” it seems that she has done just that.
"If we knew how to put our finger on exactly what made Merry Ellen Kirk as enchanting as she is, we would. One of the most intriguing singers we have heard in a while, Kirk takes what many of us forgot as a child and brings it to life. -Brite Revolution
“What makes her albums stand out is her ability to express the most intimate of concerns through the most expansive of musical textures while creating an emotional landscape that feels as sonically lush as it does interpersonal.”
Jackson Truax - Rock Cellar Magazine
“Merry Ellen Kirk draws frequent comparisons to the likes of Tori Amos and Ingrid Michaelson - her earthy, powerful vocals warrant the likeness alone. Her adept keys add to create a sound that is at once whimsical, longing and urgent. Kirk plays soft extremely well but some of her notably edgier efforts, particularly 'Rise Up Against,' were especially impressive.”
Emily Cline - The Dentonite
"Owning both sides of the singer-songwriter label, Kirk uses her expressive instrument to explore all the nooks, crannies and hidden passageways in melodies that are warm yet dark. Her work is tied to a classic pop tradition, but always feels very present-tense."
The Columbia Daily Tribune
“A subtle gem and a triumph.”
Songwriting Magazine
“Missouri singer-songwriter Merry Ellen Kirk curates a dreamy, emotional ride on her new album, We Are the Dreamers. The songs vary from bright and shimmering to sober and yearning, with a few stops in between...”
AllMusic Guide
"Missouri singer-songwriter Merry Ellen Kirk‘s unique brand of folk is one that revolves around the dichotomy of fantasy and reality, an exceedingly relatable human experience that Kirk beautifully conveys..."
Born Music
“Kirk is an adept artist who infuses a powerful vibrancy into this sadcore themed offering. Her sweet, haunting melody and beguiling vocals tear your heart out with such elegance that you are left begging for more stories of beautiful anguish.”
Allen Foster - AXS
“Charming melodies and a haunting yet familiar vocal.”
Drunken Werewolf
“Daily Discovery [10/12/2015]”
American Songwriter
“Merry Ellen Kirk makes pop magic on her newest album, “We Are the Dreamers.” ...It is Kirk’s personal inflection and finely tuned sense of wonder that makes the album not only work, but flourish. There is a perpetual sense of motion here, as she often sets slow, chordal keyboard playing against spiraling soundscapes and driving rhythms. Her voice is a lovely instrument and the glue that holds these songs together; it is full of character, able to convey both whimsy and vulnerability, sadness and a true believer’s optimism.”
Aarik Danielsen - Columbia Daily Tribune
“As she burns a trail through devastating emotions, she leads her listeners to hope.”
Vox Magazine
“[The music video for Ever After] is a fantastical, whimsical accompaniment to the folksy dream-pop offering.”
Exclaim! Magazine
“If we knew how to put our finger on exactly what made Merry Ellen Kirk as enchanting as she is, we would. One of the most intriguing singers we have heard in a while, Kirk takes what many of us forgot as a child and brings it to life.”
Brite Revolution
““Ever After”, the heartfelt new single from Nashville’s Merry Ellen Kirk, imparts a plaintive melancholy that yields to private triumph.”
The Autumn Roses
“...Haunting new track “Lovers & Liars.” The song revels in its own suspense; its opening moments are understated but with a production value that begs for a big outburst....Kirk gracefully commanding the way.”
Magnet Magazine
“Her ethereal tunes beckon to you through melodic voice and pretty piano trills....the sounds of her different worlds collide to soothe your soul and give flight to your fancy.”
Kaitlyn Crocker - EVOLve Blog
"Lovers and Liars"' is much more in the vein of Florence and The Machine or A Fine Frenzy than previous songs. The hazy, dreamy vibe of Firefly Garden-era tracks like "Field of Dreams" or "Masquerade" has been mixed with poppier elements and a strong chorus, stirring emotions not found in her previous work.
Jess Marsh - In Your Speakers
“Merry Ellen Kirk unfolds a tale of deception and betrayal that bursts into full-blown, orchestral rock.”
KDHX
“The future will bring us a lot of beautiful and deeply evocative music from this young poet. Listen to her and open your mind to the world’s beauty.”
NAU NUA Arts Magazine
“Merry Ellen Kirk's keyboards and vocals reflect the best of what we love about Kate Bush, Tori Amos, or Aimee Mann--- a little winsome, a little worried, a lotta charm.”
Moonlight on the Mountain (Birmingham, AL)
“...She writes sensitive yet evocative songs...[with] a touch of Imogen Heap's delivery at times, while the music betrays a Sarah McLachlan influence.”
The Ectophiles' Guide to Good Music
“Kirk takes the ethereal to the next level, the song ‘Candy’ being an especially delightful piece of modern dream-pop, immensely catchy without sacrificing wild charm.”
Next Big Thing Music Blog
“Attention A Fine Frenzy fans, and everyone that enjoys brilliant and pretty piano enriched folky pop songs. Meet Merry Ellen Kirk, an incredibly talented singer-songwriter that grew up in Mongolia, but now lives in Nashville. Even if I tried, I could not describe better what her music sounds like than....her masterpiece of a biography that is in itself is worth reading, so don't skip down the music without giving your eyes a treat as well.”
Let Me Like It Music Blog
"...a cross between a young Stevie Nicks and Jewel."
Brian Palmer - Stereo Subversion
“Merry Ellen is putting out some of the freshest indie pop I've heard recently...her current project...Firefly Garden, is filled with indie pop goodness that you should certainly give a listen...”
John's New Music Blog
"If you took Regina Spektor and Lisa Hannigan (and George Clooney) and they had a child...you'd get Merry Ellen Kirk."
LikeZebra.com Podcast
“She's got a refreshing clout that few can pull off without straying into mainstream; her Polly Scattergood meets bar Queen on a downer vocals draft her back into the sacred realms of more-than-acceptable-and-not-folk nicely.”
Drunken Werewolf Music Blog
"Merry Ellen Kirk plays earnest music, predominantly pianofolk, some of which sounds like Regina Spektor or Imogen Heap..."
Cover Lay Down Music Blog
“She is #@%&ing awesome.”
Eddie Owen - Eddie's Attic (Atlanta, GA)
"Merry Ellen's CD is excellent. I like the single - Blinding Me - the best. It fits her voice and style of delivery to great effect I think. A great version of Lay Your Hands also!"
Mark Isham - Grammy Award-Winning Film Composer
“Merry Ellen Kirk's music stood out at her debut album release party as powerful and impassioned...fans were delighted to hear her haunting voice as she sang several songs from her album and even gave guests the treat of hearing a new song that was not on the album.”
VIP Magazine
