Dan Mangan

Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canadian singer and guitarist Dan Mangan works within an indie-folk and folk-rock vein where songwriting is central. After beginning in cafés and small west-coast venues, he self-released Postcards and Daydreaming in 2005 — later reissued — which established his intimate songwriting, marked by a deep voice and straightforward acoustic guitar. He broadened his audience with Nice, Nice, Very Nice (2009) and Oh Fortune (2011), the latter featuring denser arrangements that mix strings, brass and more electric textures. Around 2014 he formed the musician collective Blacksmith, with whom he released Club Meds in 2015 as Dan Mangan + Blacksmith, exploring darker climates with textures close to indie rock and ambient. Concurrently he issued EPs such as Roboteering (2010) and Unmake (2016), often focused on stripped-down versions and occasional collaborations. The albums More or Less (2018) and Being Somewhere (2022) returned to a more pared-down form centered on voice and lyrics while retaining subtle work on harmonies and arrangements. Active on folk and indie festival stages across North America, Europe and Australia, Dan Mangan also composes for film and television, extending his taste for melancholic atmospheres and everyday narratives.