Mirel Wagner

Singer/songwriter Mirel Wagner's gothic folk recalls a rich tradition of brooding lyricists from Billie Holiday to Leonard Cohen to Hope Sandoval while crafting a sound uniquely her own. Born in Ethiopia and raised in Espoo, Finland, Wagner first took up music at age seven, learning to play violin; by 13 she switched to guitar and three years later began writing songs. "To the Bone," the opening track from her debut record, represents one of those early works. Jean Ramsay, an American journalist based in Finland, discovered Wagner at an open-mike night in Helsinki, and his rav...