Little Mystery’s Ivy Meissner takes us track-by-track through her soulful and smoldering debut album – a breathtakingly raw, catchy, and cathartic record where weight and warmth, charm and churn collide.
Stream: “Shame”- Little Mystery
Did it take some great fall to wake to your human harm? In the eye of the storm, do you fight, do you mourn?
On the surface, Little Mystery’s self-titled debut album greets the ears as a beautifully soulful indie rock record.
Listen a little closer, however, and the music’s seductive veneer gives way, revealing the unfiltered reflections of a restless mind and an aching heart. True to her name in more ways than one, Little Mystery is quite the “little mystery” in her own right – but she’s also an open book, sharing the most vulnerable parts of herself through spirited songs full of breathtakingly raw passion, infectious energy, and palpable feeling. If we pay close enough attention, there is no mystery at all, but a human spilling her guts in ten tender and turbulent songs. As charming as it is churning and emotionally charged, Little Mystery is a catchy, cathartic introduction to an insightful artist who holds nothing back in building wondrous worlds where weight and warmth collide.
rewrote the storyline
to make them laugh
to keep some pride
but the shame out of the harsh light
feels the same to me now
but when i smell the salt air
ripening fruit, i remember
why i had to bend that truth
that part of me that i held onto
couldn’t be, wouldn’t be lied to
sadie, sadie, held my head when
i was too broken, and the strength i knew
was in my way now as the tide kept
growing stronger
the push would pull me back
to the truth, i wouldn’t change now
– “Shame,” Little Mystery
Released July 26, 2024 via Ruination Record Co., Little Mystery is a dazzling, dramatic, and dreamy best-foot-forward from Little Mystery – the stage name for Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Ivy Meissner. Named after a band her parents played in back in the early ’90s, Little Mystery is an enchanting blend of past and present musical influence; Meissner cites everyone from Tom Waits to Joni Mitchell as influences, whilst carving out a colorful sonic identity that embraces ’60s pop and R&B, ’70s folk and rock, ’90s grunge, and more. Her songwriting is highly autobiographical, candid, and diaristic – intimate enough such that just one full pass through her album will make a listener feel like they’ve known her not for mere minutes, but for several years.
“I started writing most of the songs on this record in early 2020, many in my mom’s backyard in California and a few more at home in New York in the months following,” Meissner tells Atwood Magazine. “I had been going through a lot of personal upheaval and I began writing in a very raw and unfiltered way that I never had before. I ended up processing a lot of grief, trauma, and love over the course of writing these songs, and it quickly became clear to me that these were songs that were supposed to live together on a record.”
“It’s a deeply personal record, and this is probably the most direct writing I’ve done to date,” she adds. “I also think I didn’t shy away from showing variety on this record — each of the songs has its own unique style and form and I think that mirrors the different angles I approach my songwriting from.”
when all is broken
they build themselves up tall
and they tell me i’m free…
but i’ve come to know
the writing on the wall, couldn’t be
caught in holy
when they get lonely
so take them down to the salt
where the water once be
cause they can’t be certain
that their sins would be free
well now, i could grow old
without seeing it change from this
would my words ring hollow
in the weight of this mess
– “I’m So Tired,” Little Mystery
Meissner eventually brought her songs to co-producer Julian Cubillos, recording them together with him and her backing band of fellow Brooklynites Adam Brisbin on guitar, Connor Parks on drums, and Ian Davis on bass. “Our vision going into this record was to have the band record most of the basic tracks live, together in the same room,” she explains. “We recorded at our home studio over the course of three days, and we only did a few takes of each song — most of what you’ll hear on the record is first or second takes. I think we were really able to capture the magic and spontaneity of a new band playing new songs, which is a huge testament to the musicians’ sensitivity and openness.”
Clocking in at exactly a half-hour, Little Mystery is food for the ears and soul alike.
Album opener “Eye of the Storm” remains a lyrical favorite for Meissner; the song, which she released earlier this year as her second-ever single, examines “our complicity in institutionalized injustice and how our response in moments of upheaval can oscillate so wildly between rage and paralysis.” Tension forever simmers just under the surface as she calls attention to some very real issues, declaring at the start, “Did it take some great fall to wake to your human harm? In the eye of the storm, do you fight, do you mourn?”
Her lyrics are powerful, poetic and provocative prose, demanding her audience’s undivided attention as she sings hot on the mic, her band creating a smoky environment all around her smoldering voice:
how far the mind will go
when you wrestle your ego?
without your hands on the wheel
would you lose yourself, do you feel real?
but here we ground and tear down
can i feel it now? we hold this time
we talk loud ‘til the lights burn out
when will the rain come?
if you burn it down and let it die
it’ll grow back stronger this time
are we so easily blind?
and could i be a mother
when this war isn’t over?
lately i feel alone
could you find me a place
we could be at home?
Further musical highlights include the groovy, gutsy, high-energy (and deeply vulnerable) release “Shame,” in which Meissner unpacks one of those painful moments that force us to grow up faster than we should; the sun-kissed upheaval “I’m So Tired”; the soothing, spellbinding, and soul-baring serenade “As It Seems”; the cathartic and sweet finale “The Well,” whose warm, radiant light closes the album on a gentle, hopeful note:
maybe i can see myself out
of the pain that surrounds my long living doubt
i know it’s a long way out
will you be there when i wring myself dry
so tell me it’s easy
to feel it all again
without a crutch the withdrawal feels
like my world is not real to me
i am not who i thought i’d be
Asked about her own favorites, Meissner struggles to choose just one, but admits, “I didn’t expect ‘Easy’ to come out the way it did, which makes me like it even more.”
“It can generally be difficult for me to continue playing a song years after writing it,” she adds. “I find it especially hard to sing emotionally charged lyrics when I’ve already moved through the experience. However, ‘Eye of the Storm’ is a song that I still feel lands with me in a significant way.”
Ultimately, Little Mystery is a deeply reflective record of inner reckoning and redemption, reclamation and rebirth.
You can enjoy it on the surface as a set of smoky, soul-soaked, folksy indie rock songs – or you can dive into its deeper, darker depths, and pick apart your world as Ivy Meissner unapologetically picks apart hers. These songs are a reminder that we need not sacrifice substance for style; there are singer/songwriters out there who can inspire us and provoke intense conversations, while still delivering a wholly mesmerizing musical reverie. This is but the beginning of Little Mystery’s story, and while we’ve fallen head over heels for chapter one, we cannot wait for chapter two.
blue whale
you searched the coast with a longing hope
you always needed more than this
did we let you down?
and when the tides roll out
the harsh cold of the wind meets your eye
you see you pushed the hurt of your life
now you push me farther just to feel it alone
these were the walls that kept you strong in the storm
you call to say the gardens growing tall
the seeds you planted taken root
they didn’t let you down
did we not flower or fruit
in the way that you longed for us to?
you know we’d be lost
in this life without you
so where are you now
when the world is unglued?
we need our mother
to remind us where we belong to
– “The Garden,” Little Mystery
“I’m just grateful to have the opportunity to put this music out, and I’m really proud of what we created together,” Meissner shares. “These songs are deeply vulnerable, and I learned so much about collaboration and trust through this process.”
Experience the full record via our below stream, and peek inside Little Mystery’s Little Mystery with Atwood Magazine as Ivy Meissner takes us track-by-track through the music and lyrics of her debut album!
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:: stream/purchase Little Mystery here ::
:: connect with Little Mystery here ::
Stream: ‘Little Mystery’ – Little Mystery
:: Inside Little Mystery ::
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Eye of the Storm
This song is about a lot of things, but it’s largely an examination of our complicity in institutionalized injustice and how our response in moments of upheaval can oscillate so wildly between rage and paralysis.
Shame
“Shame” was a song that seemed to write itself — I think is probably the most direct and unfiltered song I’ve written to date. I also really love the idea of having a fun party song that is actually very weighty in its content.
The Garden
This song encompasses so much about my life that it’s hard to speak briefly about. I wrote it on acoustic guitar but we chose a two-electric guitar arrangement for its simplicity and starkness.
I’m So Tired
Adam Brisbin, who mixed the record and played lead guitar, asked me to do a feedback solo at the end of this song. I resisted initially because I thought it made more sense for him to play it, but I’m really glad that I did. It was wildly cathartic and absolutely the right way to end the song.
Burning Blue
Julian’s production vision for this song really made it a unique track on the record. Our friend, film composer Alex Weston, wrote the string arrangement which really brought the song into a whole new realm. We also had our friend Alena Spanger sing and play piano, the latter of which we recorded at The Owl Music Parlor, one of our most beloved NYC venues. I love how you can subtly hear the creaking of the piano bench and the rain on the roof if you listen closely.
As It Seems
This song is about being bullied and belittled by someone you care about. Most of the songs on this album were written pretty close to the time we recorded, but ‘As it Seems’ is an older song of mine and the band breathed such new life into it. I love so much about this recording, but Kalia Vandever’s trombone solo and the way Adam and Ian interweave melodically on bass and guitar are definitely highlights for me.
Orbit
While they are vastly different in sound and style, ‘Burning Blue’ and ‘Orbit’ feel like sister songs to me in a way. Both are about finding yourself on either side of a relationship where one person is struggling. We used the contrast between the heavy and quiet sections of Orbit to mirror this experience of emotional volatility.
Easy
Outside of providing a general roadmap for arrangements, we didn’t give the band very much guidance on how to approach the songs on this record. We basically just played them and let them be what they needed to be. I had such a different idea in my head of what ‘Easy’ was going to sound like but what we recorded was so much better than I could’ve imagined. It was a beautiful reminder of what can happen when you trust and give creative freedom to the people you collaborate with.
Down Too Fast
I wrote this song in a moment where I could feel my mental health taking a turn for the worse and I was upset with myself for it. I considered leaving it off the record because it’s such a short and intense song but it ended up bringing an important element that would’ve otherwise been absent.
The Well
Somewhat unintentionally, the order of this record is pretty close to the order we recorded it. This song is about the rebirth that happens when you allow yourself to feel things you’ve pushed away, as well as the fear and beauty that come along with that, which I feel is a very fitting way to end the record.
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:: stream/purchase Little Mystery here ::
:: connect with Little Mystery here ::
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© Maya Meissner
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