Ainars Mielavs releases new EP “Ja es varētu” after six-year gap

Latvian singer-songwriter Ainars Mielavs has released a new EP (a format shorter than a full album) titled “Ja es varētu” on streaming services, shortly after Lāčplēsis Day. The release contains three songs and is the musician's first work after a six-year break; his previous album, “220 volti”, came out in 2020. The EP is said to be available on 78 streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.

Recording and songs

The EP was recorded at the GEM+ studio with Gatis Gaujenieks. Its artwork uses Mielavs's own painting “Suns ziemā” (“Dog in Winter”) and an original typeface by Ilmārs Blumbergs. The tracks are “Ja es varētu”, “Atlaist ir sagaidīt” and “Dzīves jēgas ugunskurs”.

Mielavs and his band wrote the music for all three songs: Kaspars Vizulis plays guitar, Rūdolfs Macats keyboards, Kristians Priekulis bass guitar and Kaspars Kurdeko percussion. The lyrics were written by Mielavs himself. The song “Atlaist ir sagaidīt” uses a poem by Finnish writer Heli Laaksonen, “Tam, kas iet pretī jaunam sākumam”, in Latvian translation by Guntars Godiņš, with the authors' permission.

What comes next

Mielavs promises that the recording of a full new album will be finished in February 2027. In the reviewer's view, the new songs stay within the familiar Mielavs style, with keyboardist Macats Jr. given more room this time. Professional poetry connoisseurs have voiced critical comments about the lyrics.

From 28 to 30 December, the singer's traditional concerts “Between Christmas and the New Year” will take place at the Spīķeri concert hall. A small exhibition of Mielavs's paintings will also be on view there. The gap between releases overlapped with the period in which Russia's invasion of Ukraine temporarily took away many creative people's desire to make new music.