How do you know when a song is a keeper? When it comes to your mind unbidden, years after you first hear it. For me, Mylo Choy’s “Meet Me in the Middle” is on constant rotation in my mental jukebox. Needless to say, I was stoked when the new single from the former banjo player for queer country/radical educator supergroup Small Talk. Choy’s previous EP, Night is Like the Ocean, is a meditative offering as Choy experienced a number of transitions in their life. On their new single “Moving Year,” Choy brings a sense of adventure to those changes, now that they’ve arrived at the other side.
Mylo Choy has spent much of their life between contrasting environments. Growing up in Wisconsin, they maintained a connection to Hawai’i where their mother is from. For years they worked in outdoor education, living between the woods and New York City. They find comfort and clarity in the space between things. Blending words with music and sometimes drawings, they communicate with the tension that has become their home.
Drawing inspiration from nature’s ability to offer peace and perspective, Mylo’s songs reflect without dwelling and soothe without escaping. Their music is simple and atmospheric: a safe container for the messiness of life.
Mylo’s upcoming release is a pair of EPs, Summer Projects (summer/fall 2021) and Winter Projects (early 2022).
“‘Moving Year’ is a synth-infused embrace of uncertainty,” Choy writes. “Upbeat and atmospheric, the song moves through both joy and reflection. The video, directed, shot and edited by Tony Choy-Sutton, was filmed on a remote barrier island off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina. The dynamic landscape evokes things familiar as well as otherworldly.”
“Moving Year” is available now on all streaming services.
Mylo Choy — Official, Facebook, Instagram, Bandcamp, Spotify