After years of constant motion and relocation, singer/songwriter and musician Mynolia decided to embark on on a new beginning, landing in the remote wilderness of the American South, where in new isolation, she began writing the songs that would eventually comprise her forthcoming, new album Salt Around My Bed. And while in the South, she found herself turning into the mundane magic unfurling all around her, making friends with her superstitions and recognizing the holiness in the most humblest of tasks — including the burning of pictures, the scattering of salt, the crushing of eggshells for the garden. Minolta conducts each ritual with equal care throughout the album, small acts of protection that hold real power.

She then brought the album to celebrated jazz musician and co-producer Rich Ruth and with the help of a talented cast of musicians and friends around the world fleshed out the material including Pete Pételle and Florian Holoubek on drums and percussion, labelmate Spencer Cullum on pedal steel, Corin Droullard on horns, Patrick McGonigle on violin and mandolin, Sam Que on bass, All Them Witches‘ Charles Michael Parks. Jr. on bass, Blood Root’s Taylor Waffford contributed backing vocals, and co-producer Rich Ruth also contributed synths, guitar and bass.

The Rich Ruth co-produced Still Around My Bed is slated for a January 15, 2027 release through Full Time Hobby and will feature the previously released singles “Needle,” “Run Like Hell” and Holy Line,” as well as the album’s latest single “Take the Mountain by Surprise.” “Take the Mountain by Surprise” is a gorgeous folksy ballad featuring strummed acoustic guitar, gently bubbling synths and bursts of distorted guitar beneath Mynolia’s earthy delivery. Sonically seeming like a blend of old-timey mountain folk, indie rock and shoegaze, “Take the Mountain by Surprise” is both remarkably contemporary and timeless.

“This song had an unconventional birth, inspired by a weird guitar tuning with which I wrote a for-fun song called ‘Sweatpants and Straitjackets’ some years ago. That B part became the guitar foundation for this track, which then came out, lyrics, parts and instrumentation all at once,” Mynolia explains. ” I remember writing and then recording this song in one sitting after a severe rainstorm had washed out part of the mountain road to my house. An act-of-God natural boundary formed between my home and the outside world and it was exactly what I needed. I took it to Florian Holoubek for drums and then to Rich Ruth for final production, mix, and synth flourishes. ‘I wish the creek would rise, take the mountain by surprise / As the landslide pulls away there’s space for me too, today.’ Making yourself small for others to find you more digestible usually has an expiration date. Better to confess in song and set that boundary, as a mudslide won’t always do it for you.”