Mariam The Believer

Born in Örebro, Sweden, Mariam Wallentin developed Mariam The Believer in the early 2010s as a more personal extension of her journey as a singer, percussionist and composer. First active in the late 1990s in the soul group Carnival, she then attends the Gothenburg Music and Theatre Academy, where she meets Andreas Werliin, with whom she forms the duo Wildbirds & Peacedrums. Parallel to this adventure between experimental pop, organic rhythms and folk tension, Mariam Wallentin also makes a mark in jazz contexts and improvised music, notably with Fire! Orchestra. Under the name Mariam The Believer, she explores a more inward writing, at the crossroads of art pop, experimental and a spiritual music carried by voice, percussion and often pared-down arrangements. The project begins on record with Blood Donation in 2013, followed by the EP The Wind in 2014, then Love Everything in 2017 and String Variations in 2019. Mariam The Believer thus circulates between independent scenes, freer creations and cross-disciplinary collaborations, while keeping a very physical singing, often built on repetition, breath and a sober intensity.