In the far north of Aotearoa NZ on an off-grid property surrounded by forest, you’ll find folk singer-songwriter Magda Lena, crafting her stories into songs, usually in the afternoon with her steel string guitar at hand. These are songs to be shared like secrets, with laughter and longing, comfort and connection. They are intimate moments at the fireside together.

A lifetime of illness, pain and loss has been tempered by a deep connection with forested hills, rivers and changing seasons. She leans heavily on the creative outlet of music. “I write songs to warm my life, to make a home of the dark and the wild, to make it easier to breathe in those isolated places.” You’ll feel warmed too, as she pulls a veil from our human sorrows to reveal the gentle glow of the moon and the stars glimmering there.

Her voice is expressive in character and has an emotional presence that lingers, both qualities which lend themselves to the telling of stories. Her finger-style playing gently and delicately holds and releases tension as songs unfold, touching on heartstrings and inviting unexpected feelings to surface. She delights in sparking engagement in her audience, to the point where stories come flooding back in return. 

Magda Lena reflects on a beginning that unconsciously happened. “I was a painter for many years, being a musician wasn’t on my radar. The days painting were long and quiet, and I listened to a lot of Iron and Wine, Sufjen Stevens, and Ray Lamontagne. I fell so in love with the beauty of the songs and these other worlds I was drawn into, that it sparked a desire to write. Once I began, it felt like coming home.” Her mind fills with pictures and scenes when writing songs. “When I’m creating it’s still in that visual language of images and colours.”

2025 sees the February release of her first single Dust on Your Boots, to be followed by three more original songs, produced by Dave Russell in his far north studio as a project in the spirit of fun and honouring creativity.