Anja McCloskey is a UK folk, indie folk and singer-songwriter known for playing accordion and other instruments. She starts playing accordion at the age of five, after hearing her grandfather play the instrument, and continues to use it as a central part of her music.

Background and style

McCloskey is based in the United Kingdom and is born in 1980. Her music is described in genre terms as folk, indie folk and singer-songwriter material, and she also works across multi-instrumental performance. The accordion is particularly important in her work, valued by her for its range of tone, its expressive qualities and its unusual sounds.

Bands and collaborations

She plays in the accordion orchestra Akkordeonorchester Elmshorn and performs in bands including Haunted Stereo and The Irrepressibles. She is described as one-sixth of Haunted Stereo. Her work also includes collaborations with a number of solo artists, among them Katy Carr, Jake Flowers, Helen McCookerybook, Claudio Gerard and Ana Silvera.

Writing and other work

Alongside performing, McCloskey writes her own material and contributes to magazines including Wears the Trousers and Ether Magazine.

Recordings and releases

Her music includes the Turn - Turn - Turn EP, which appears on Sotones Records. She is associated with a broadly understated, fluid and folk-based sound, and her work is also described as baroque anti-folk and folk-drone.