Mia Rago - Wishing We Could Dream (2025) [Hi-Res]

Chicago born and suburb raised, Mia Rago is an indie pop singer songwriter and operatic soprano. She grew up listening to her dad sing Frank Sinatra around the house while her mom shared her love of Elvis Presley. Ever since her youth, Mia has been submerged in the world of older music; it’s safe to say her roots lie in the music created before her time.

Growing up, Mia couldn’t always count on her body to support her. Diagnosed with severe scoliosis at the age of nine, she underwent a series of intensive surgeries meant to correct the painful curvature of her spine. While she was forced to give up sports and physical activity for years, music was the one thing that she could always rely on. Mia began playing guitar and writing songs during this time. Watching her onstage now, you’d never know that she has steel rods implanted in her back, but it’s an apt metaphor for the hidden strength, much of it forged through pain and perseverance, that defines her beautiful songwriting.

The subtle darkness in Mia’s music stems not only from her surgeries, but from working at her family’s funeral home and cemetery business. She creates music with a sonic sophistication and lyrical maturity well beyond her years, layering intricate harmonies over stark, spacious arrangements. Mia calls Nashville home these days, and the city’s proven to be an ideal fit for her unique mix of evocative storytelling, rootsy vulnerability, and fierce femininity. It’s an intoxicating blend, one that calls to mind everything from Mitski to Phoebe Bridgers in its captivating delivery.

Mia’s debut album titled Wishing We Could Dream is a compelling story of the light and darkness of Mia’s life to date. Recorded at The Bomb Shelter in Nashville, TN, Mia worked with prominent female musicians Megan Coleman and Larissa Maestro. The album was produced by Megan McCormick, a two-time IBMA Award-winner who’s toured extensively as a member of Jenny Lewis’s band. Featuring songs of love, lust, heartache, and death the album is beautifully crafted with a repetitive theme of dreams. Mia has always loved the concept of dreaming and often views her life as a series of dreams; some good and some bad. The aptly titled album is shaped like one long dream beginning with a ‘Prelude’ of daydreaming transitioning to dreams of love and nightmares of death, while still encapsulating a euphoric, whimsical ending, which keeps us coming back for more.

Sometimes Mia wishes she was only dreaming. This is especially the case when it comes to her first single from the album called “All of My Scars” about her battle with scoliosis and the reality of forever having scars long after the surgery is over. Released on June 14th, 2024 - 14 years after her first surgery - the song gives a real and honest look into Mia’s struggle with body confidence and back pain, while still highlighting her strength and perseverance. The singles that follow will give listeners a look into the dream-filled world Mia has created with this album. Mia’s second single “The Shower” is out now and expresses the mind games associated with a breakup and how crazy love can make us feel. Her single, “Sweet Tooth”, is a dreamy love song dedicated to her love for dessert.

Mia’s single “It’s Dark Inside” personifies death as if it were human. Mia’s relationship with death has been strongly influenced by her family's funeral home and cemetery business. She grew up surrounded by the business of death, worked funerals, and eventually became a licensed crematory operator. This song speaks to death directly, going through thoughts and feelings as death approaches. “It’s Dark Inside” is out now.

Wishing We Could Dream is due to be released in the Spring of 2026 and speaks like a more mature, yet similarly raised older sister to Mia’s first project A Sea of Darkness. Released in 2020, the debut EP is sweeping and melodic, gorgeously written with an undercurrent of darkness that often flows just beneath the surface - much like the forthcoming album. Mia hopes to continue cultivating her indie pop sound by diving deeper and exploring the battle between the light and the dark.