When the Cellar Children See the Light of Day review Mirel Wagner specialises in 'stark yet catchy'

(Sub Pop)

Let's pretend for a moment that the prospect of an artist born in Ethiopia and raised in Helsinki, one who sings Anglo-American folk-blues songs, isn't intriguing. This is Wagner's second album, and that was the backstory of her 2012 self-titled debut. This follow-up is no less enigmatic. Still peddling stark vocals and (mostly) fingerpicked guitar, WTCCSTLOD was produced by minimal techno producer Vladislav Delay, a man who knows how to leave stuff out. Album opener 1234 asks "what's underneath the floor", and your grimmest suspicions are confirmed when Wagner answers her own question. The Devil's Tongue, meanwhile, will have you shouting "tune!" quite inappropriately at Wagner's circular riff and "la, da, da"s.

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by Kitty Empire via Electronic music | The Guardian