Belfast-born, Berlin-based artist Mahuna’s debut album, Forever Is Mine, is a quiet revelation, a ten-track journey that feels like a weathered diary set to music. Released recently, this cinematic, folk-leaning record is a tapestry of raw emotion, minimalistic textures, and introspective storytelling that draws you in with its unpolished authenticity.
After 25 years of songwriting in obscurity, Mahuna steps into the light with a debut that’s as haunting as it is heartfelt, evoking the likes of Nick Drake, Glen Hansard, and Damien Jurado, yet carving out a distinct voice of his own.
From the opening track, The Road I Have Wandered, Mahuna establishes a tone of weary grace. His fragile yet grounded voice, paired with warm, intricate fingerpicking, sets a scene of someone who’s walked a long road and found meaning in the journey itself. The lead single, Shimmering Light, is a standout (and our favourite), glowing with sun-soaked nostalgia as Mahuna reflects on a serene morning at Kinsale Bay with his brother. Its Richard Hawley-esque chord progression wraps around you like a dream you can’t quite shake, understated yet luminous.
The title track, Forever Is Mine, is the album’s emotional core—sparse, haunting, and lingering like a memory you’re not ready to let go. It’s the kind of song that could soundtrack both heartbreak and healing, its simplicity amplifying its depth.
Tracks like Far-Off Summer’s Night and Dream Winter’s Day act as emotional bookends, capturing opposite ends of a bittersweet year with vivid, place-driven imagery—Berlin winters, Paris dawns, Monaghan fields, and Kerry’s ghostly coastlines. Each song feels like a time capsule, recorded live to preserve every breath and flicker of vulnerability, thanks to Mahuna’s collaboration with producer Cameron James Laing.
The guitar work is intricate but never showy, nodding to folk traditions while staying uniquely personal. However, mid-album tracks like Tear Down the Sails and Underneath A Hazel Tree can blur together, their consistently gentle tone risking monotony. A bolder shift in tempo or instrumentation could have added a spark to keep listeners on edge.
The album’s emotional peak arrives with Where the Dark River Meets the Sea, a bleak yet cinematic track that opens the record’s chest and lets it breathe. It’s a moment of raw beauty that hits like a quiet gut-punch. The closer, They Won’t Be Coming Home, is devastating in its simplicity, a soft-spoken truth about loss that leaves you with stinging eyes and a heavy heart. Mahuna’s strength lies in his ability to make the personal universal, turning lived moments into stories that resonate deeply.
Forever Is Mine isn’t chasing trends or playlist placements—it’s not for the TikTok crowd or “chill vibes” algorithms. Its lack of polish is its power, offering a refreshing antidote to overproduced modern music. While the pacing drags in places and could use a touch more dynamism, the album’s emotional honesty and atmospheric storytelling make it a compelling debut. Mahuna has taken his time, and it shows—every note feels earned, every lyric lived. For fans of introspective folk and slow-burning narratives, Forever Is Mine is a record that lingers long after the final chord fades.
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