Max's Music Mondays with Adriana McCassim and yej
Whew boy we are rocking out this week, get on in here.
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, you can follow along on spotify and please be sure to absolute smash that dang subscribe button! tysm :) Your paid subscriptions go towards supporting the artists you read about here too!! That’s right(!!), the artists who made This Weeks Songs are getting paid!! <3
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Happy Monday!!
Listen… if I have the chance, I am GOING to talk about Dijon. I popped in to the LA stop for re:SET this Saturday, and had a good ol time baking in the sun. I’ll buy some time before going Dijon-pilled by saying the first act of the night, Bartees Strange, is truly a rock star. I’ve seen him before, but his band is really dialed in and they sound amazing. A mix of songs from Live Forever and Farm to Table, such a great sound throughout with Strange winning the crowd over every time he went wild belting. Heavy Heart was the highlight for me (bias, it’s already my favorite song of his) but I SWEAR he looked right at me and we sang the Toronto line with each other. Not to be that guy but unfortunately this time it’s true he was looking at ME ok. We shared a moment. Anyways, on to Dijon. Holy smokes what a set.
First off, if you aren’t a Dijon fan… I need to work harder. One of the most unique and special musicians working right now, and someone who is basically doing magic on stage. They opened with an Of-My-Dreams setlist of Big Mike’s → coogie → rock n roll. Left me speechless. Thank god for my friend Britt for welcoming and appreciating my insane, minute-by-minute commentary over text. I wanted to scream at everyone around me “IS THIS NOT JUST WILD?!?!? HOW IS THIS SO GOOD?!?!”
What I loved most this time around was the camaraderie on stage. It came to life in the Absolutely film (please watch if you haven’t before, or honestly if you have, always time for a refresh), a room of friends playing together, really playing. Through the ups and downs of the set, they looked to each other for energy, each generously pouring from their cups into each others (metaphorically). You can witness in real time the friendship changing the trajectory of a song. And it’s a privilege. It’s the first time I’ve seen Dijon seem so, well, happy on stage. Giggling, smiling, impressed by his friends, and glad to be surrounded by them. It felt special to watch. It’s also such an exciting set, each song completely transformed in its live arrangement. Many Times hitting a blistering pace, rock n roll trading post-script explosions for mid-song crescendos, Rodeo Clown a relentless and powerful raging end. Dijon performed standing, sitting, half-squatting on his seat, just letting the music dictate where he was meant to be. Him and Mk.gee unable to sit still as they played alongside one another, both bopping to the beat in an unprepared choreography moment. A new song that sounded amazing too (dm for the vid). It’s a performance that set me free, walking away like I was floating. So full of heart and soul, a sight to behold. I can’t wait to see it again soon. And beyond the music, just a reminder how powerful it can be to have those friends around you and to trust them deeply enough to let go a little bit. Beautiful… just like this week’s songs…..
Adriana McCassim - Sandy Believes In Me
Come on now… I am a FOOL for a song like this. From the very first sounds, it feels warm and warn, wide and full. The kick seems to lift up from underneath the whole song, that snare just the perfect tone. The fuzzy guitar sliding around a bit on the right, messy and beautiful. When those full guitars lay down at 0:09, it fills the track up and all feels powerful. Gentle momentum, sunlight covering us all. The rhythm between the guitars and the snare give it this lovely lazy groove, popping my shoulders as I glide left and right.
With a stellar band surrounding her, Adriana McCassim steps in and shines. It takes a special voice, a special performer to be able to add even more to a foundation this perfect. Yet, she makes it look easy. Her tone is crazy, this wild experience to dissect, where the more time I spend listening close, the more it feels like she has multiple voices that all weave together seamlessly to deliver us one perfect voice. Just take these first few lines:
Sometimes / We get inside our heads - The sometimes landing soft and tailing off with warmth, the “we get” popping up, “inside our” settling back down, and “heads” coming to a crunchy, gritty close.
It’s just a miracle why - Feeling steady and grounded before the “why” get’s thrown out to the festival crowd, a massive yet controlled moment.
It stays like this, letting the energy naturally push from contained to extraordinary, softness and edges appearing just where they’re meant to. Her control and flair evident as she moves so easily through all faces of her sound. It’s a totally unique voice and one that held my ear from the first listen and hasn’t let go yet. The whole first verse is a treat, settling into McCassim’s wondrous sound with the help of that subtle steel guitar. We go running into the pre-chorus with that subtle cymbal, a little more urgency in the lyrics, the band building to more.
And the more comes next, the tambourine giving this a timeless joy, paired with the more-present steel guitar the song comes to life without taking on too much more. These simple additions giving SO much more to the song. And I really love the chorus. That simple refrain feels important and essential, and as I find myself singing along it feels true. I love McCassim’s adlibs, the “cuh cuz” (or something like that) as she flies back into the repeated chorus feel so earnest and real, and the same kind of things I want to throw out when I sing along too. A natural necessity. The song pulling it out of us all. The band all blurs together, everything fitting just so. And as it ends, the weight of it all feels more apparent as it crumbles to a halt. Letting the heaviest chords float out until they fall, a breath from the momentum.
The second verse finds its footing quick, McCassim’s songwriting a real treat here as we get moving again.
Somebody tell somebody else I can’t / love you like I want to
Her phrases stretched from phrase to phrase giving lines new meanings moments later, giving plenty of reason to listen to each lyric. And this one is a heartbreaker. That guitar really reaching for the stars as the pre-chorus ramps up again. McCassim letting the emotion pop a bit more too. Adding up to us soaring into the chorus, and this time around it’s sing-along time. As McCassim peaks and pushes as the song climaxes I’m singing along and cheering along, it all just feels so big and loving and tender, even with the harsher guitars. I just love how it all comes together. Been stuck in my head for weeks now and I am so so happy to be sharing it now. A part of the recent Dual Twin EP, joining two other songs that go down easy. Soulful and stunning. Hope you’ll take a listen.
Follow Adriana McCassim on IG / Spotify
yej - cuffed
Every now and then I press play on a song and it just takes off, ~rocket ship vibes~. This is one of those songs and I am ALONG FOR THE RIDE. That first little riff is enough, let alone when the bottom drops out and that synth bass sends the energy to outer space (trying to stay with this rocket metaphor but running out of ideas already, so I will be giving up now before it’s too late). Impossible not to move around, it’ll wake you up. It feels active and alive and fun, perfect guitar tone to cut through the heaviness with a smile.
yej crushes the first verse, a sick performance over that punishing bass line. yej gives us the lay of the land, telling it straight, and folks the situation is bleak!! But the melody stays calm, letting the band express the anger. That little ascent on disappeared like yej is floating off away from these homies. The band responding immediately, a bit heavier, grungier, with that alieny-feedbacky thing ringing down. Someone screaming in the other room, more life more passion, the whole moment seeming to punctuate the verse, addressing the situation with a big FUCK YOU!!!!! But, unphased, yej pushes on. You don’t even know my name, really a brutal admission when it comes to your crush… </3 but that doesn’t stop yej either, still pining for that kiss just a moment later. The energy from the band matching the moment so well - determined, persistent, aching for love. That moment at 0:47 another rocket ship (sorry). Within this song’s unending momentum, even one single breath feels like a full reset. Vocals warped and echoing and falling off the edges. We launch (so so sorry) again, this time with more sounds bouncing left and right. Dancing and shining and weird and perfect.
This new boost (is this a rocket thing..?) shoving us into the chorus, the drums finding that anthemic groove, the guitars so absolutely massive, and yej more powerful than ever front and center. That first lyric just such a delight to be heard in this context - feeling nearly screamed with those vocal layers. The you say reveal is a delight. Just plain ol good song writing right here. As yej starts to wish for change, this perfectly dreamy keyboard joins. Laying in these chords that feel optimistic if not mysterious and eerie. Like this wish isn’t all pure but coming from a place of mischief. We pick the pace back up, another messy moment to get us back to full speed and ready for another verse. Shaking off the cobwebs of those dreams, back to the brutal truth of the story. That last bit of feedback might even be a shriek, the pent up emotion needing a release.
yej doing everything she can to fit into this crush’s life, where they are, what they look like, just hoping it might all work out one day. Again some subtle screams/adlibs underneath it all give the rare emptier moments so much life and texture. This floating moment, being mine rolling on in, yej showing off a little. Such control and tone even amidst all this chaos. At 1:49 (that’s it??) we hit the chorus again. This time a lead guitar ripping that melody right along yej for emphasis. I LOVE the writing here. You’re fun to hang with, no pressure at all / You say / Just tell me I don’t have sex appeal instead / instead. SO juicy so blunt and so real. These niceties we’re all used to hearing tossed aside for the harsh truth that’d actually help resolve the situation for everyone. The confidence of saying it, whether in her head or to this crush, elevates the whole band one more time. The drums going half-time with even more intensity, a new cymbal pulling my head down with every crash. yej going for it, the passion flowing out, reaching for new highs in the melody. It’s big and beautiful, an epic scene and epic final lyric. But we’re not done yet, a nasty drum fill into a nasty instrumental section. Every band member giving it everything they’ve got. There’s a million things to hear, impossible to pin one down for too long, the whole thing bordering on overwhelming but done so well it feels good actually. Washing over you with this sound so full of heart. I find it calming??? And it all breaks down right there. The band pulling the plug on the song with a few last reverberations. God what I would give to witness that one live…
It’s big, it’s bad, and it rocks sm. This one’s off yej’s new EP Tantrum, and man was it hard to pick which song to write about. Want Me is another great one, crescendoing from sweet singer songwriter angelic tune to screaming erupting desire. Whew, exciting.
What a week!! So stoked on these songs and hope you enjoy them too. Also if you haven’t already seen… throwing more great songs up on tiktok all the time now. Come say hey. https://www.tiktok.com/@maxhimelhoch
See you next week. With love,
Max