Marissa Nadler

Early life

Marissa Nadler was born and raised in Massachusetts. As a teenager, she taught herself to play guitar in a style similar to fingerpicking, playing a steady bass pattern with the thumb and filling out syncopated rhythms with the index finger. It was described as having an "unorthodox, dusky sound". Also while in her teens, she began to write songs as a hobby.

She studied painting at Rhode Island School of Design, where she obtained a bachelor's degree in illustration in 2003, and a master's degree in art education a year later. During her studies, she began to perform at open mic events around Providence. While exploring artistic techniques such as illustration, painting, bookbinding, woodcarving and encaustic painting, she also honed her songwriting craft. She subsequently recorded an album titled Autumn Rose (2002) as well as the four-track EP Somber Ghost Recordings (2003), neither of which have ever been released. Nadler also contributed to the Pearl Before Swine tribute album For the Dead in Space - Volumes II & III in 2003.

2004–2010: First releases

Nadler released her first official album, Ballads of Living and Dying, on Eclipse Records in January 2004. The follow-up The Saga of Mayflower May was released in July 2005. Both records were distributed in the United States by Eclipse, and by the UK label Beautiful Happiness in Europe.

Nadler went on some of her first tours with acts such as the late American Primitive guitarist Jack Rose and the drone metal band Earth.

Nadler released her third studio album, Songs III: Bird on the Water, on Peacefrog Records in Europe on March 12, 2007. The album was recorded and produced by Greg Weeks of the band Espers in Philadelphia. and subsequently released in the US and Canada on August 12, 2007 by Kemado Records. It was nominated for two PLUG Independent Music Awards in 2008: "Best Female Artist of the Year" and "Best Americana Record of the Year". Nadler also won "Outstanding Singer-Songwriter of the Year" at the 2008 Boston Music Awards, with three nominations altogether.

Her fourth full-length album, Little Hells, produced by Chris Coady, was released on March 3, 2009 and received praise from many critics. including 4-star reviews from magazines such as Mojo, Rolling Stone in France and Germany, Uncut, and Q. It received an 8.3 from Pitchfork. The album departed from the earlier folk-based template with the introduction of electronic elements. In early 2010, Nadler contributed vocals on Portal of Sorrow, the final album by black metal project Xasthur.

2011–2012: Marissa Nadler and The Sister

On June 14, 2011, an eponymous record was released worldwide on Nadler's own label, Box of Cedar Records. The song "Baby, I Will Leave You in the Morning" was released as a free download on March 8, followed by a subsequent music video. The album was positively received by Pitchfork, which gave it 8.1 out of 10, and it was called "a stellar collection of sullen melodies and lovelorn anecdotes akin to those of Joni Mitchell".

On May 29, 2012, she released The Sister, a short eight-song "companion" album to Marissa Nadler. The album was dubbed by Paste as an "impressive concoction of stark minimalism".

In November 2012, Nadler collaborated with Angel Olsen on two cover songs that were shared on Nadler's SoundCloud page: the Richard and Linda Thompson song "My Dreams Have Withered and Died" and the Mickey Newbury song "Frisco Depot".

2013–2014: Sacred Bones Records and July

In 2013, she signed to Brooklyn-based Sacred Bones Records. Her album July was released by the label on February 4, 2014 and on February 10 by Bella Union in the UK. It was recorded at Seattle's Avast Studios, and produced by collaborator Randall Dunn. The first single from the album, "Dead City Emily", was released in November 2013 and positively received by Stereogum as an "ethereal spine-tingler" and by BrooklynVegan as "a track as haunting and delicate as any of her best tracks to date". July debuted at No. 16 on the Billboard Folk Albums chart and No. 14 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers Albums chart.

July received mostly positive feedback from music critics. At Metacritic, it received "universal acclaim", and July received a score of 4 out of 5 from the majority of music publications, among them NME, Drowned in Sound, Blurt and PopMatters, In a positive review, PopMatters called the album a "triumph" and "one of 2014's best albums so far", while Spin called it a "masterfully composed release". Vice Media's Noisey website discussed the atmosphere of the album, writing that "the darkly lit July is a moody trip through heat spells and night drives... Nadler's quiet songwriting and ethereal sound give July a sound that's, at times, almost sinister". Steven Rosen of Blurt wrote that Nadler managed to achieve an "almost-hallucinatory effect out of her singing, often multi-tracking the voice to create a ghostly pillowing effect".

In July 2014, Nadler collaborated with Father John Misty, releasing a split 7" on Bella Union. Father John Misty covered Nadler's "Drive", while Nadler covered "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings".

2015–2016: Strangers

The album Strangers, recorded with producer Dunn in 2015, was released on May 20, 2016 on Sacred Bones and Bella Union. A limited edition version with original artwork included a pre-release cassette of Bury Your Name.

The album release was accompanied by an extensive tour of North America and Europe. In late 2016, Nadler joined Ghost for the US tour.

Strangers was listed on several lists of 2016's best albums to date, including Spin, Newsweek, Uncut and The Quietus. Spin also listed "Janie in Love" as one of the best songs of 2016 so far.

During this period, Nadler directed and animated music videos for Strangers tracks "Janie in Love" and "All the Colors of the Dark", as well as "Blood and Tears", a Danzig cover she had self-released as a digital-only single for Halloween 2015. In late September 2016, a video for the Strangers song "Dissolve", featuring both animation and live performance, was released on Pitchfork.tv.

Studio albums

Self-released albums

EPs

Singles

Guest appearances

Compilation appearances

The following is an incomplete list of compilation albums that include tracks by Nadler.