Nan Macmillan

Now residing in Brooklyn, Nan Macmillan was first raised by the sea in Massachusetts, then spent her high school years in the hills of Southern California, before studying poetry in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. The indie-folk-pop artist writes about the underlying threads connecting these chapters of her life — the search for self-understanding, deep joy and pain of loving another, peace found in the natural world, anxiety at the threat to its existence. 

On her debut full-length album, FROM BOTH EYES, Macmillan explores the dark and hopeful corners of her heart and mind with lyrical precision and intricate sonic landscapes. The songs pack a punch, wandering with care between folk, alternative rock, and synth pop tendencies. Co-produced by Hiss Golden Messenger's Alex Bingham, the album was recorded at a lakehouse in southwest Virginia with Matt McCaughan (Bon Iver) on drums, her long-time friend Tyler Hutcherson on keys, Kim McMasters on electric guitar, and Saman Khoujinian (The Dead Tongues) engineering. The vinyl release on Blank Verse Records contains the bonus track Flight of the Birds.

She’s received praise from NPR Music, Gide Magazine, Atwood Magazine, and was placed at #36 in AAA Radio Station “WNRN’s Top 100 Albums of 2024”. Her music offers a gentle and fierce combination of sadness and hope, reverie and reality, feeling resistant to time’s passing and finding the rhythm of it all anyway.

Glide Magazine “a dazzling work of folk-laced indie pop.”

Atwood Magazine “Mad Sometimes is a charming, cathartic indie rock confessional – making it the perfect introduction to Nan Macmillan and an ideal starting place for her debut album, From Both Eyes (out now). Angsty and blunt, gritty and heartfelt, this song has a little bit of everything – and perhaps best of all, it’s a reminder to own your emotions and say how you feel, when you feel it.”

Rainbow Rodeo “Macmillan submerges us on her world on her recent album From Both Eyes. While Macmillan paints with a delicate brush that incorporates folk music elements and electronica, those synth elements do more to highlight the acoustics than not. Thanks to Macmillan’s plainspoken lyrics and arresting performances, there is something uniquely human about this album — something that it feels like only Macmillan can capture.”

Clout Magazine “…enchanting and conversational style is something that makes Nan Macmillan‘s sound feel instantly disarming and charming, almost more like a chats with an old friend than songs, with the artist laying down her thoughts, feelings and often vulnerabilities with a candid sense of honesty and authenticity.”

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