I grew up with a host of friends who were involved in the visual arts over the years. One of them impressed me particularly when he said that the greatest artists aren’t the masters of their craft in every respect, but rather they know what they don’t have, or rather what they don’t need, to make their presence felt. You don’t need the most expensive paint set, a wide variety of colors at your disposal, or to fill the canvas with things.
You just have to create your vision with what you have and let the negative space do the work for you. The Swedish duo Moon Mother knows this. On their second full-length work, Meadowlands, they paint a lush, acoustic landscape full of anguish, sorrow and trauma, while at the same time creating a sense of wonder, serenity and a dose of hope.
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You probably scrolled down to the tag section and decided to do it in record time, especially at the sight of the “Not Metal” tag, and that’s entirely your loss. What guitarist Patriec Ahlström and vocalist Sara Mehner created on Meadowlands is simply stunning, and the use of negative space allows Ahlström’s melodies and soft percussive chimes to echo and roll through the sleepy landscape they have created. “Wilderness,” with its finger-picked strings and the soft hums of the electric guitar, is a prime example of what you can build with only what you have. It isn’t the high production values or the expensive instruments that help you overcome obstacles. Rather, it’s knowing what to say, how to say it, and when to say absolutely nothing.
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And Mehner’s angelic voice is the perfect complementary ingredient. Whether it’s her powerful scream (opener “High Houses”), the melancholy melodies (closer “Windhover”), or her painfully beautiful, almost yodel-like passages (“Wilderness,” the terrific “Be a Forest, Child!”), Mehner’s ability to draw the most emotion out of a song or a melody rivals that of Chelsea Wolfe or Emma Ruth Rundle in terms of delivery and power. The way her soft lament closes the title track awakens so many raw emotions that they will make you feel both sorrow and catharsis, regardless of how it manifests within you. Picking out specific moments on Meadowlands proved difficult because, in truth, her outstanding performance, combined with Ahlström’s musical backdrop, is best enjoyed in a single, uninterrupted and fully focused listening experience.
If there was anything particular about Meadowlands, it was in the production, and even then, it isn’t something that could be changed. Meadowlands is full of reverb, and I mean full of reverb. Combined with the compressed mix, it makes it a little heavy, especially during the second half of “High Houses.” That, and the album is packed with cathartic moments in its second half, almost to the point of being excessive. But the last time a doom/folk hybrid hit me so hard, so strongly, was with Darkher‘s debut album. It’s absolutely excellent company, and Meadowlands connects strongly on that level.
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Sure, I know what the name of the website is, and Meadowlands is a colossal anomaly in that respect. And yes, I’m sure my colleagues will give me a reasonable (about the absurdly high) critique of the score they give it, but Moon Mother created an album that is at once the perfect album for clearing out your emotions, and an album you can use as a backdrop for a morning full of dew and mist with a cup of your favorite hot beverage of choice. By creating an album that symbolizes sorrow and hope, they earned my attention and my love. Give it your time and it will surely do the same for you.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format: WAV
Label: Independent/Self-release
Websites: Official | Releases Bandcamp Worldwide: February 6, 2026
