Marisa Anderson has shared Sarvi Simin, the second single from The Anthology of UnAmerican Folk Music, Vol. 1, due May 22nd on Thrill Jockey. The track is an interpretation of a piece found on Musical Instruments of the People of the USSR, released by Melodiya Records in 1977, and features an ecstatic duet between Anderson’s guitar and violinist/violist Gisela Rodríguez Fernández.
Where the album’s first single, Taqsim for Guitar, saw Anderson painstakingly transcribing a 1955 Syrian field recording and bending strings to gesture toward its microtonal qualities, Sarvi Simin arrived through a more circuitous route — one involving bus journeys, cumbia rhythms and a dream.
Anderson elaborates on the source material and her approach: “Melodiya Records was the state-run Soviet record label, a monopoly that released a staggering amount and variety of records starting in 1964. The records I accessed for this project all focussed on folkloric ensembles from various corners of the Soviet Union. The records themselves are of varying quality, and the jackets were printed on thin cardboard, with very intricate and beautiful cover art and almost no information about any of the music.”
“I transcribed Sarvi Simin during a couple of weeks over the winter of 2025, while traveling around by bus in southern Mexico. During that time I had a dream where the melody of this song mixed with the cumbia rhythms I heard blaring daily out of the bus speakers. Perhaps this dream became the inspiration for using an accordion to drive the rhythm of my version? The melody is very strong and straightforward and I recorded a few different versions of the song, but was never quite satisfied until it came to life as a duet with Gisela Rodríguez Fernández on the violin.”
Anderson continues to tour extensively through 2026, with a lengthy US run throughout May and June and a UK appearance at End of the Road Festival in September. A portion of the album’s proceeds will go to Tamizdat, supporting international cultural mobility for artists.
The Anthology of UnAmerican Folk Music, Vol. 1 is out May 22nd on Thrill Jockey.