Mia Rago brings some fun to the breakup with indie pop track “The Shower”
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Mia Rago brings some fun to the breakup in indie pop track “The Shower”
With bass, snare and guitar, indie pop singer-songwriter Mia Rago pulls you into her trippy, boppin’ little alt-pop love-gone-wrong song “The Shower.”
And, it has a touch of the operatic, as Mia plays with her classically trained voice and invites the listener to come play with her in the debris left from a breakup.
“The Shower” releases on August 9.
“It is playful,” she said. “Lyrically, it feels like one big run-on sentence, just the thoughts going through your head, like, ‘What happened? What did I do? What did they do? What did they do wrong?’ All this stuff that makes you feel absolutely crazy with a breakup.”
From the start of this affair we were 25 years young And now I’m starting to regret what I said when I thought You’re the one who always called The only man of the hour And I still just can’t believe I think about you
It will be the second song to be released from her upcoming album — her debut — Wishing We Could Dream. More singles from the album are coming. The finished project, with 11 tracks, will drop early next year.
The music video for “The Shower” will be released August 19.
“I had some fun with the music video, too, with stuff you do post breakup. You know, eating ice cream. Or just crying. But making it kind of fun instead of sad. I wanted it to be upbeat, musically, and I feel like my producer, Megan McCormick, and I made that happen.”
With the two singles from the album out this year, she is resuming a career path she started with the release of a five-track EP, A Sea of Darkness, in 2020. The pandemic and completing her degree in music interrupted.
“The pandemic did hit right as I was releasing my EP, and then I was in school up until 2022 getting my bachelor’s in music for vocal performance.”
Her post-college work as an operatic soprano includes performances of Puccini and Verdi in Italy and singing in master classes and coaching work. She has sung baroque-, classical-, romantic- and modern-era roles.
But her road to 2024 and the beginnings of a serious music career began with a diagnosis of scoliosis at age 9 and surgery to correct it at 10. The titanium rods permanently in her back and a long, painful recovery ruled out the sports and physical activity she had loved.
Music became, as she says in her bio, the only thing she could rely on.
And, in another twist, she grew up in a funeral home and cemetery that her family owns.
“Although some people might think it’s very depressing to grow up around death, I feel like I have tried to appreciate life because I understand how short it is. And although I do like the darkness of some of my songs, I try to highlight a lightness or a playfulness, like in ‘The Shower.’”
Then there is the fact that, around the house, Dad sang Frank Sinatra and Mom loved Elvis.
“I think of myself as an old soul,” she said. “I really love the older music, and I try to incorporate some of that writing into my songs.”
If some darkness is inevitable in her music, it comes in music that is beautiful and versatile. The five songs on her EP, for instance, have country, “Rose,” a song with an orchestral vibe, “Tension,” a rockish entry in “Alive,” and the very slow, moody, contemplative “Serendipity.”
“Gone” is an upbeat tempo track that tells a story that is mysterious, ambiguous and chilling. Did she disappear or was she disappeared?
All are beautiful listening. Mia Rago has a gorgeous voice, which she knows how to use and clearly loves to play with.
The first track she released this year, “All of My Scars,” a song about her scoliosis, is an alt-pop ballad of catharsis.
All of my scars, all of my tears Gave me my pain and brought me here The stronger my spine, my body and soul Made up of bones with metal I’m whole
“I think ‘All of My Scars’ was very therapeutic for me,” she said. “I got diagnosed with scoliosis at the age of 9, and to try to process that as a 9-year-old and then having the surgery when I was 10 — it was not really possible for me to do, and I ended up processing it years later.”
The years since A Sea of Darkness has been like a period of “research and development.”
Going forward, she wants to develop — as long as she can — both her career in opera and in alt-pop.
“My ultimate goal is to bridge the gap between my more indie-pop, alternative stuff and opera. They’re more closely related than we think. I incorporate opera in some of my performances, and I feel that, especially in the chorus of ‘The Shower,’ I was able to highlight some of my vocal training.”
Still, she says “indie music is a lot more freeing than classical.”
“There’s more rules in classical, and it’s more of a challenge, which is what I like about it, but it is fun to be able to experiment.”
Fans can only benefit from following her as she creates her bridge.
Connect to Mia Rago on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.
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