MESKEREM MEES is a radiant example of what one talented young musician can make with her acoustic guitar and her God-given voice. If you make your home in Western Europe, the name of Meskerem Mees is likely not unfamiliar. The talented young Belgium-based musician watched her debut single Joe (released in May of 2020) secure the attention of local radio stations. It didn’t stop there. It climbed its way to number one on the Studio Brussel’s chart ‘De Afrekening’ and prompted some invitations to new opportunities in the music industry.
Since the release of Joe, Mees has offered a steady flow of new songs. The Writer is her newest gift. The talented young twenty-something is not only a musician, she’s an observer and a poet. Her songs are not words put to music, nor are they instrumental moods searching for language. It seems like one young woman moves through life with her acoustic guitar as an extension of her very self. She finds herself in a moment worth noticing. Pausing, her guitar resting in her arms, she looks unhurriedly at the shapes and colours and nuances of the world around her and inside of her. And then, effortlessly, her fingers reach for the strings and her mouth opens, and it all cascades out into a song. If you don’t believe me, just listen.
The Writer is a simple backdrop of warm and fluid finger-plucked rhythms on Mees’s acoustic guitar. Her vocal work feels innocent, unassuming, and a bit like The Girl Next Door playing under the stars in her open, grassy backyard. Mees has a gift of making it all feel as natural and as comfortable as the breeze blowing through your hair. Mees’s penchant for writing cleverly expresses itself as the theme of the song. Her movement with language is entirely engaging. Her writing is simple and unobstructed, yet concise and without waste. Mees makes every word, every syllable, every inflection count toward her craft. The final piece feels to the listener like an authentic conversation with Mees herself, as she truly is.
Accompanying this new single (The Writer released October 15, 2021) is a beautifully produced video in black and white, describing Mees’ story. The video expresses these same postures of a gentle and artful, open-handed and open-hearted observation of one’s surroundings and relationships.
The Writer is one of thirteen songs appearing on Mees’s debut album Julius.
