Mikel Rafael ‘The Eternal Hour’ – out now!

In an age where overproduction can smother emotion, Mikel Rafael’s debut EP The Eternal Hour arrives like a breath held too long—aching, quiet, and ultimately, redemptive.

The Nashville-based folk and Americana artist—born Michelangelo Macrohon—distills a lifetime of displacement and discovery into three meticulously crafted songs that feel like pages torn from an old myth. Drawing sonic parallels to Leonard Cohen, Lisa Hannigan, and the spectral tones of Celtic tradition, Rafael threads poetry into every line, carried by a voice steeped in solitude.

Framed as a single day—morning, noon, and night—the EP is a meditation on longing, inspired by literary giants and the soft hauntings of the woods. From the ghost-call of “Maples and Pines” to the reflective shimmer of “The Stream” and the dusky resolve of “Rise Into The Gentle Night,” each track casts a spell.

Adding to the atmosphere are three cinematic videos shot in the rain-drenched Pacific Northwest. Directed by Shane Weisman, the trilogy follows Rafael as a lone wanderer seeking something unseen—a metaphor, perhaps, for the artist himself.

There’s a rare patience in The Eternal Hour. It doesn’t rush. It reveals. And in doing so, Mikel Rafael proves himself not just a songwriter, but a seeker.