After a childhood of moving too often for seeds to catch root, singer-songwriter Melissa Mary Ahern has called New York City home longer than anywhere else. Sweetness and sorrow go hand in hand in Melissa’s music. Her honeyed vocals deliver melancholic lyrics with a precision that in one breath can cut you open and stitch you right back up again.

Her songs explore her experiences with substance abuse, a struggle that was heightened by her various work in nightlife, starting at the early age of 19. The tragic loss of her oldest brother to cancer led to a series of revelatory experiences that eventually helped Melissa achieve sobriety. She reflects on these themes of struggle, love and loss through her characteristically soft vocalizations and dream-like melodies.

Having already collaborated with Sufjan Stevens, being a constant around New York City music venues, and previously releasing two singles with FatCat ('Hard Luck In Love' and 'Made Of Stone'), Melissa has shared 'Happy', the first single from her forthcoming debut Lp 'Kerosene' which will be released also on 17th January 2025.

'Kerosene' explores the loss of a loved one, a sibling, and her struggles with sobriety. Learning to see the world clean, with a new clarity, while memories of hurrahs, extended destructive benders, and hangovers are still constant companions.

The powerful and unapologetically honest pieces on 'Kerosene' are divided between those polished in professional studios and those captured on a mic in Melissa’s Manhattan bathroom – “Clean and dirty. Sweet and mean. Cruel and kind”. Lyrically the album acts almost as a diary. Turning Melissa’s experiences as she entered recovery in 2020 into poetry. Dealing with often overwhelming feelings that the drugs and alcohol had hidden.

“When I give in to the pain, I pour on the kerosene”

The songs on 'Kerosene' move backward and forward in a narrative where Melissa reconciles, untangles her old life from the new. Remembering bad habits, while striving for inner strength. Her sights set on a peace free of self-destructive self-loathing. Determined, and committed to never making the same mistakes again. The mood is still bruised, but way over the worst. Retreating, rebuilding, understanding that true love begins within.