Concert Review: Mija Haunts Mercury Lounge

Choosing to watch Mija in concert is like openly deciding to be haunted. She sets up her concert like you are entering the living room of a dead woman and are about to meet her ghost. Lights flash like thunder as her lamp twitches, and she appears on the chair, distressed, and twiddling her hair as if on the verge of a metaphysical breakdown. At Mercury Lounge, she embodied the physical instability of sadness.

When we think of depression, we think of someone in a bead: vacant and immobile. Yet, sadness and anger are the beginning phases of any depression, and, in those moments, you might as well be the Tasmanian Devil, of which Mija was! She whirled and whisked through the stage like it was her cage; maneuvering around it as if she can’t break free and pondering whether she could handle freedom. At least once, we have prayed and thought, “I just wish I could be who I want to be,” while having no clue who that is. We want better careers without knowing which job we want, we desire better relationships without knowing what kind of partner we desire, and we wish to love ourselves more without analyzing what is their to love.

The crazy part is of Mija’s music is that sounds like a cross between a trap bar and a French cafe. She manically repeats phrases while a light, European twist squeezes through her sound to make it feel strangely coiffed and courtly for how dark and enigmatic she becomes. It’s like pretending a teddy bear is a knife, but when you think about how many times friends, lovers, and even yourself have betrayed you, the inference might not be wrong. Thus, Mija feels both isolated and isolating in presence as her vocals are  sweet and tart as berries turning lyrically poisonous. Yet, the audience loved it.

I always find it curiously strange, but beautiful when you go to see an artist singing to derangement or heartbreak; their basslines and synths sinking as much as their feelings. Yet, there is relief in acknowledgment of pain, and the crowd felt drawn to Mika’s goth, harrowed sensibility. They loved that she appeared alone and scared, but oddly figuring out how to not be through her music. The same could be said for her fans. For More Information On Mija Click Here.