Max's Music Mondays - Something To Hold Us Over
Just a few new releases from the week, back with more picks next week :)
Welcome to Max’s Music Mondays. My ~music discovery newsletter~ where I get too excited about songs I love. I hope you love them too. If you do, follow along on spotify and please be sure to absolute smash that dang subscribe button! tysm :)
Lol I wrote this all yesterday and then was busy enough to forget to hit send, whoops!! Anyways…
Ok just been one of those weeks!! Busy busy busy, which of course, we love to hear. And all wonderful things to be busy with. Taking the week off - kind of… A break from the format.
Even when I didn’t have the time to sit and discover, some incredible songs found me. So no new artists, no new songs for the playlist, but three incredible artists with three incredible singles. I’ve been blasting these so much, it felt wrong not to share.
And if this isn’t enough - reach out, I got plenty more I can share :) <3
Here’s what I’ve been listening to.
(click this ^^ for the full playlist lol)
Maggie Rogers - That’s Where I Am
I am a Maggie Rogers diehard, this we know. I still run through Heard It In A Past Life often, those songs held me in a turbulent time, offering peace in the moment, offering gratefulness and perspective in reflection. But also, those songs just rock!! Regardless, I was getting a little peeved with how long she’d been teasing this one on TikTok because, of course, I’ve told this whole story to the algorithm so every single one of her teasers hit my FYP and I freaked out. I’ve been getting fucking excited! Telling multiple people I “was sure” the single was coming out multiple Fridays in a row, just trying to will this one into existence. Sorry!! I was tired of waiting!!!
But now it’s here, the song is alive in the world, and I am loving it. It feels like a graceful step forward - the whole thing just feels more full. The vocal sample is a fun and unique addition. A popping bed for Rogers’ gentle intro. We gain steam with claps and more emotion. A bass, some keys, incredible textures on the background vocals. All swelling until beyond the minute mark, those live drums bringing it all even further to life. The choruses feel massive and powerful but Rogers in control of it all. An acoustic guitar arrives for the bridge, with the songwriting just melting my heart. That final minute offering such optimism, I’m really loving it. Cannot wait to see what else this project has in store.
Empress Of - Save Me
This song is truly fucking me up. These first moments, Empress Of just delivering one hell of a performance. Slow rolling chords, EO forging ahead with an incredible performance, the melody seeming to arrive out of thin air. Not in an it-feels-random sense, but more in an it-feels-like-magic sense. As we cross thirty seconds, the room begins to spin, the floor pulled out from under us, falling into a ridiculously beautiful (and kinda devious) groove and production. Future Nostalgia found dead in a damn ditch!!!! The strings are phenomenal, arriving at just the right moments and delivering everything we need in each moment. The chorus is dark and hot and undeniable. EO’s lyrics jutting out before those drums roll over top. The give and take of EO’s 'save me, save me’ and then the twisted/warped lyric that follows. It’s all amazing. A stunning new way to share the message. Ugh the whole thing is just so damn good I really can’t shake this one.
KALI - Anybody Else
The production on this one is out of bounds!! Too good!!!! The power of the guitars, the keys scrambling beneath the heartbeat kick drum. It’s so much to take in and yet, there’s so much more. A chorus stirring beneath, hanging on by a thread, before the keys and KALI step up, step together. I adore KALI’s voice, spilling out so smooth and so honest. They feel so grounded, sure, as they show off amazing tone and textures. This whole thing is packed with texture treats (trademark coming soon). It just feels so good. Each layer adding to the picture, shifting its center with each passing moment. Manages to feel anthemic, festival-level massive, and drop into an intimate and personal heaviness with a blink of an eye. Some woodblocks splashing in, masterful touches of production through out, some magic happening in those background vocals and harmonies. Then the whole thing starts a-chugging. Powering home with an emotional release. A powerful desire to carry us home. This one rocks!!
I hope you enjoyed these three, I know I have. Thanks for understanding, there’ll be more new music next week.
Until then, resting, researching, writing,
Max
Another great finds Max 👏 Your Music Mondays always make my start of the week way better 🎶
I’m loving the new Maggie Rogers too!! And the Empress Of song was on my list to share next Sunday, but now it’s going to look like I stolen from you! LOL What can we do if all these women are simply crushing the industry again!?