“Music is the most honest and direct form of dialogue, of communication.” Spoken by Brooklyn-based musician Maria Neckam, who performs under the moniker Milán, these words hold special significance for anyone who has ever been challenged or moved by their love of music. Music can be cathartic and difficult and inclusive, and Milán is the vessel through which Neckam plies these volatile emotions. Before relocating to New York, Neckam had lived in Amsterdam and Vienna, where she was born, and from these formative experiences, a sense of creative movement and rhythmic exploration of her surroundings began to work its way into her life. She played in a trip-hop-influenced band called Mia Thought And Something Happened and worked with various producers in realizing the sounds and textures which were swirling around in her mind. But after moving to New York, things began to change quickly. She met and began working on some unreleased material with a sound engineer in Brooklyn. He passed the unfinished songs on to producer Jim Orso (who has also mixed for Rush Midnight and played drums for Hot Chip, Holy Ghost! etc.), who subsequently remixed them without Neckam’s knowledge and sent the mixes to her—this marked the beginning of their musical collaboration. Working with Orso, DJ Brian Lindgren (Pax Humana), drummer Chris Berry (Holy Ghost!, Ghost Beach) and drummer Tommy Crane (Half Waif), Milán has become a thriving, exuberant entity, full of languid melodies and intricate vocal detours. Led by Neckam and her crystalline voice, the songs that form the basis of her upcoming self-titled EP bring in sounds from many different genres—all swirled together in a hazy wash of colors and unpredictable rhythmic impressions. Produced by Orso, this collection of songs allow the feral electronic aesthetic of Milán to stand on its own, fierce and resolute. Having since worked with artists such as Grammy winner Erykah Badu, composer Ted Hearne and the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra, hip-hop producer Mesta Bish and indie rock musician David Bronson, Neckam’s musical resume sits at the crossroads of a handful of different genres. Her music, rather than feeling displaced by her complete disregard for creative boundaries, has grown and developed into something that incorporates aspects of indie rock, trip-hop and electro-pop—though never in the ways that you would expect. In her journey to dissolve the borders between artist and listener, she has used her music as a direct means of communication with her fans. She explains, “Through my music I express who I really am and invite anyone to find their own story within it, without judgment or fear.” She goes on to say, “I feel that my life is a continuous quest to get to the bottom of things, to understand life, myself and others. But we can never fully understand with our minds alone. Music opens pathways into the subconscious and, even beyond, into the secret channels that connect us, that connect everything in the universe. In music, everything is possible, and everything is allowed–it’s freedom. Great music enables us to discover our greater selves, and become better people.”