Tanya Donelly and Chris Brokaw- Madrigals and Guitar w/ Roger C. Miller
Two of Boston’s most influential and enduring voices have joined forces for a bold new project. Tanya Donelly—co-founder of Belly, Throwing Muses, and The Breeders—and Chris Brokaw, guitarist/singer for the legendary Come and longtime collaborator with Codeine, Thurston Moore, and The Lemonheads, have come together to reimagine the centuries-old form of medieval music for the modern era.
Their forthcoming EP The Undone is Done Again (Fire Records, 2026), set for release in early 2026, offers a collection of modern interpretations of medieval music, built on the intimate interplay of Donelly’s luminous vocals and Brokaw’s intricate, atmospheric guitar work. The result is music that feels both ancient and immediate—haunting, beautiful, and defiantly new.
Both artists bring decades of experience shaping the history of alternative and indie rock. Donelly’s unmistakable voice and songwriting have inspired generations, while Brokaw’s genre-spanning guitar work has pushed boundaries in rock, folk, and experimental music. Together, they create a duo project that is at once stark and lush, rooted and forward-looking, bridging Renaissance tradition with contemporary songcraft.
Following the EP’s release, the pair will embark on a series of live concerts, bringing their unique collaboration to venues across North America, Europe, and beyond. Audiences can expect intimate, mesmerizing performances of madrigals, in which two artists at the height of their powers explore uncharted musical territory, and they will also perform songs from their unique solo histories.
Tanya Donelly: vocals
Chris Brokaw: guitars
“Having always been a big fan of all of Chris Brokaw’s music, bands, and projects, I asked him if he and I might team up to play a song or two for our mutual friend Hilken Mancini’s annual holiday event last year. He had the unusual and very cool idea to perform a medieval carol, in Latin, something far outside of anything I’d done before. We quickly synced up in practice, and I was (as usual) blown away by Chris’s gorgeous, trancy guitar. (His playing on this project reminds me somehow of throat-singing.) Since it felt very natural to play this music together, we decided to work up a few more of these traditional pieces. We are very happy that Fire Records will be releasing this EP in April ’26, and we’re planning some shows for the Spring as well.” ~Tanya Donelly
“In December 2024, Tanya asked me if I’d collaborate with her at a local (Boston) holiday benefit show we’ve both participated in for several years. I’d been listening to the Norwegian vocal group ‘Medieval Trio’ and, kind of on a lark, suggested that we perform a medieval Christmas piece. Tanya quickly agreed, we did a little research, and arrived at the song ‘In Hoc Anni Circulo’. I invited her over; she started singing, I started playing electric guitar, and I felt like we immediately found a new language, a sound, a dialect. It sounded more like Bedouin music to me than anything particularly ‘Christian’, or much like anything we were ostensibly drawing from. I found it really exciting and suggested we pursue it further. We worked up another 3 pieces and decided that these 4 would be a complete statement. We went to the studio with David Minehan to engineer and mix in April 2025, and finished it all in July.
I’ve always loved Tanya’s music, but her singing here is, I think, on an entirely new level. She’s amazing, and I’m really proud + excited about this work.”
– Chris Brokaw, August 2025.
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Roger Clark Miller was a guitarist/co-leader in the highly influential post-punk band Mission of Burma. Their album “Vs.” was listed at number 19 in Pop Matters’ “50 Best Post-Punk Albums Ever”. They have a chapter dedicated to them in the Indie Rock Book “Our Band Could be Your Life.” Miller was listed as number two of nine absolutely essential Post-Punk Guitarists in TONE REPORT. (Number one was Andy Gill). He continued expanding his guitar skills after Burma, recently in his “Dream Interpretations for Solo Electric Guitar Ensemble” and his current rock band, “Trinary System” (both on Cuneiform Records). Treble Magazine, 2026: “Miller puts on a master class in guitar sonics, unleashing a torrent of fuzz-drenched string stabs, bends, and scrapes.”
Premier Guitar, Jan. 2023: “The post-punk 6-string hero takes a deep dive into sonic surrealism with his new album, a loop-driven collection of riveting soundscapes.” Pop Matters, Jan. 2023: “His skills as a guitar player and his bottomless imagination have collided in a perfect encapsulation of the two traits, bringing forth a third strand
that just can’t be imitated by anyone else, no matter how hard anyone should try.” On April 10, he will perform solo as a singer/songwriter on electric guitar and voice. He tours nationally and internationally. His music can be found on more labels than you can count.