Merival – the moniker for Toronto-based singer-songwriter Anna Horvath, is a name I’ve only recently become acquainted with following the release of her debut album ‘Lesson’.
Some singers have a rare and uncanny ability of not only sharing their innermost fears and tribulations through their lyrics but also carrying those words into the world in such a way that you share in their emotions, whether that be elation, sorrow or confusion.
With ‘Sinner’, the latest single to be taken from Merival’s debut album and our Song of the Day, she thematically touches upon a time when she felt the all-consuming guilt of falling in love with someone else whilst in a relationship. While that is something which may unnerve many, pricking at our own fears of loss and rejection, the song and her delivery create one of the most tender and raw moments.
“I sobbed and sobbed immediately after writing this song,” says Anna of ‘Sinner’, perhaps the most heartfelt example on the album of Anna’s profound sense of emotion. “I was dating someone, fell in love with someone else, enter all-consuming guilt. As someone who feels things very deeply, I was distraught at having these destructively exciting thoughts of someone else.”
Being tasked to put a video to such a song is a daunting prospect as the last thing you want to do is disturb the fragility of a song which is also underpinned by a soaring orchestral backing. Director Adrienne McLaren has managed to create something altogether unique and cinematic in its feel. The darkened background of these scenes perfectly isolates Anna in a dreamlike world, totally alone in her own thoughts as she travels through a rose-tinted world before the reality sinks in.
https://youtu.be/_L8f3WAByqM
The new video arrives in-line with news of Merival’s debut UK dates, the first visit in the country for the Canadian artist, which are set to take in a stop at Lion + Coffee Records, London on September 15, 2019 – see below for the full run of dates.
UK Dates
September 12 – The Eagle Inn, Manchester
September 13 – Heaton Perk, Newcastle
September 14 – Rhôs-on-Sea, Pie Records
September 15 – Lion + Coffee Records, London (w/ Christof van der Ven of Bear’s Den)
September 18 – Sofar Sounds, Cardiff
September 20 – The Exchange, Bristol
You can also here ‘Sinner’ in our Mellow Folk playlist on Spotify.
Photo Credit: Jen Squires