With a vocal performance that feels both heartfelt and deeply precise, Malin Verheij, 25, was born in the Netherlands, but moved to Borås in Sweden at the age of twelve. Surrounded by a new language, she struggled to fit in, and began writing lyrics and playing music as a way of processing her emotions. A few years ago, she moved to a red cottage outside Jokkmokk in the northern reaches of Sweden, where her heart was broken and then mended again. She has returned to the healing process of songwriting, after buying her first 'real' piano, and beginning the process again of connecting with her true self. the result of this intimate and introspective writing process, is "To cry for, to lean on, to love"——an EP that tells the story of her recovery, set against the backdrop of a very delicate acoustic guitar along with other vibrant elements of folk & roots. The deliberate and controlled cadence gives me small echoes of someone like Laura Marling, while the veneer of chamber pop shimmers like a Lydia Luce. For Malin Verheij, on her latest release "Hold On To Me," the acoustic guitar, the piano, and the swirling layers of orchestral strings together weave a story of personal redemption and resiliency.

Visit Malin Verheij on Instagram.

Photo credit: Christoffer Holmberg