Max's Music Mondays with Boko Yout & Quiet Light
Back with two incredible songs plus thoughts on new Medium Build, Wilby, and more!
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
Holy moly - this thing just keeps getting better and better and I’m more inspired, motivated, and excited about MMM than I’ve been in some time. Two weeks ago, I wrote about Farrah Hanna and jessa and thanks to you all, we got to send them ten dollars and change. And while that’s not life-changing money, it’s life-changing to me that we get to support these artists with listens and love and a little cheddar for lunch or something too.
Then to hear the mission resonate so beautifully with artists - a dream come true I have to say. If this speaks to you too - supporting this community and the artists who make it so special - I’d be over the damn moon to earn your $5 per month too.
I’ve spent the offweek living life, and eager to write more. Which is a thrill. I also continued to get back in the swing of things, life back in LA finding its familiar rhythms again. Reconnecting with my places, my people, my life. Moments on familiar hikes feeling so grounding (and lush as all hell) and just rejuvenating.
The end of my year held so much travel and action that it was hard to see past it, and it feels so juicy to be like… looking forward to stuff again? This tidal wave of life crashing just behind me and I’m finally back for air. MMM the lifeguard dragging me back to shore. And the music industry as a whole seems to be aligned. SO much incredible music dropping right now I’m a little overwhelmed and a lot excited. But more on that later. For now, I’ve got two more incredible songs and I can’t wait for you to hear them too.
This Week’s Songs
The road to 1000 listeners continues!! Sit back, enjoy, and send to a dang friend why don’t you.
Boko Yout - ANXIETY
Sheesh. That first little guitar phrase. That was enough to catch my ear. The tone is so gnarly, fuzzy as all hell, but enough life poking through to articulate that first strum and subtle changes. It’s hazy and weird and magic and dusty - like the needle being dropped on a record no one’s even noticed was on the shelf for fifty years. Thank goodness for that extended chord right after, giving me a chance to turn shock into savoring. As the pattern repeats, an eerie high note falls like a comet, Boko Yout offering some warmth as he scats his way in.
Yout’s voice is so rich. Swaying so easily over this guitar (which picks and chooses its spots here, not getting overly consistent). There’s something so sweet about these first few bars. Delivering them with such confidence and poise, but the gentle background vocals floating ever-so-dreamily along the sides of the track lets Yout’s performance feel modest. Things bubble up and the drums come pouring out. The break beat hammers hard, but regardless of its urgency that guitar riff is like molasses and keeps the groove slow and steady. Yout doesn’t let the drums force their hand yet either, flowing just as easily in this second section. They hold out for a while, but at 0:42 we slide into the chorus, the vocals pushing hard and showing off a new edge. An edge that beckons the rest of the band over, making the moment that much bigger. That bass hits, warm and low, a new dimension to the song that wakes me up. Bass pulling down, Yout stretching higher with those angelic ooo’s. I find myself riding it like a wave, the groove now slowly rising and falling. There’s a new guitar too, lazily bending and warping time some more. Sprinkle some sampled/glitched vocals in there, and there’s just so much to enjoy.
We fall into the second verse, the band, the whole track, slowing and fading. But this pull-back/stop-down effect doesn’t end there, instead latching on to every chord that hits in this early section, not letting too much energy loose just yet. Like the production wants to take off running again but Yout is begging them to chill just for a minute. Over hi-hats and some new production sounds they drop a heck of a lyric “Cut me open like a pizza pie, it’s love”. Beautifully and naturally landing a pizza pie lyric. Folks… thats amore. And thats the straw that breaks the songs back, the drums unable to hold back any longer, flying forward just as we remember them. This time they pair with a chirping bird synth line, it feels so bright but just off-kilter a touch to give it a creepy tension. The vocals find support with a stronger background take almost yelling back the lyrics to drive home the point. It’s a rad moment, the song evolving at all times, at all turns. A filter drapes itself over the track as we run through the bridge. And while we lose the drums’ punch, the leave their mark as those chords shake from side to side. The moment grows and grows, and you can just feel something coming around the corner. So when we rip the filter off and let the chorus power on again, it’s a beautiful and big relief. This time feeling even stronger and louder and just plain fun. Even with the energy always at a 10 this feels like a step up. All the pieces clicking just right.
That’s what this one was for me. Great pieces and they all clicked. Rips top to bottom.
Follow Boko Yout on IG / Spotify
Quiet Light - Til I Get Tired
These gentle chords coming alive as the world outside keeps moving. Real life filling the edges of this song from the first seconds as Quiet Light strums through this progression. A progression that feels so soft and inviting and like it’s reaching out to hug us all just for being here. The chatter in the background feels so grounding too, its randomness giving the song texture and shape and reason to let go of “perfection” or whatever that might be and instead embrace its (it = the sound and life in general) unpredictable nature and unique texture. Quiet Light steps to the mic and within four simple lines I was so bought in… Just instantly nodding my head going “ok yeah i will be writing about this…….”
If I keep loving you
If I keep loving you
If I keep loving you
Til I get tired
There is SO much emotion and beauty squeezed from nineteen words. It’s almost a miracle. The melody is so dang magic and the rhythm QL manages to find, especially in that second repetition. I’m dumbfounded honestly. And I’m so glad I have a place to talk about this because it also gives me an excuse to listen to it countless (me refusing to tell you) times to soak it all in. The second keep sprinting ahead reaching up for something just out of reach. The slight pull on loving, the slight pull on you. Both distinct like leaning back on a rope in tug of war. It’s a stunning pattern and one Quiet Light finds ways to share again and again over this song. All the while in this chorus section asking these what if’s, I can’t help but feel the desire and hope in her voice. It culminates with the titular lyric and almost feels like less of a question and more of an fyi to this lover.
The verse arrives, this gentle keyboard lighting up the place. As the lyrics look back on shared first glances, the keys do feel a little fading-back-into-a-dream too. There’s the slightest shaker joining in, sure not to take up too much space. This verse is full of daring surprises, the first hitting here after “I can’t breathe” as if the band is responding to our narrator’s intense reaction, the whole thing swirls as if it was dizzy, vision clouding, feinting in front of our eyes (ears?). Making eye contact can do that to you sometimes I guess. Love at first sight, heart going wild, feels like warm chaos. When it clears, all seems normal. Until that trippy vocal layer tacks onto morning light. It’s hard to describe, this digital voice that bends in non-human ways. I don’t really know why but it feels like a tube? Wires running through it, all around the actual vocals. Whatever they are, they shine here, and their weirdness works so well, but once you’ve heard them at full volume, you can start to find traces of them elsewhere in the song too. A necessary part of the full sound. As the verse comes to a close, that arpeggiator starts firing away, building momentum, grabbing momentum. That second vocal appears for a minute, running out of gas before we hit the chorus, almost a balloon emptying out? This whole moment comprised of so many interesting and unique odds and ends. All of it working so perfectly together. It’s really something. Something good and something I like.
We do make it back to that chorus, earnest and yearning. It feels like a meditation. Repeating to believe. Repeating to know the answer. Coming back to it in different moments, different moods, and trying to ground herself in its message. With atmosphere building, soundscapes shifting, the song drifts out to an end. Once again the world still moving beyond the borders of the song. It’s a mesmerizing one and one I fell in love with quickly for its boldness. Bold as it is soft, as it is loving. Quiet Light’s entire EP from last April is full of stuff like this - intimate, creative, beautiful. I hope you enjoy it too.
Follow Quiet Light on IG / Spotify
Here’s what else I’ve been listening to.
Yeah, I’ve got another playlist…^^ a live look at the songs I can’t get enough of beyond our weekly picks. It’s a mix of everything. Old, new, big, small, mainstream, weird as hell. Give it a listen :)
Medium Build - Gimme Back My Soul / Especially Me
Welp. I’m worried about this one. About how I could possibly put words to the shit that is moving my SOUL right now. I’ve been writing about these single and shows as I’ve experienced them but the EP is here and so is my unavoidable obsession with these songs.
Gimme Back My Soul - this rocks, guitar pushing over a simple drum beat. Medium Build telling stories from the heart. A one-of-one writer with a special voice. From the heartbreak to the beginning of that love, he sings with smirk that’s hard to believe with the pain you know lies underneath. The bridge swirls - building and erupting - that last line I'm just so fuckin' tired of being pushed around giving no choice but to scream the chorus one last time, classic MB style. It’s a song that absolutely hits hard live, and just hearing it is a reminder of how passionate and raw it can get. That final chorus has real beating-my-fist-on-my-chest-while-i-sing-along energy and hope none of you saw me acting a fool on my walk just now where I listened to this one five times over.
Especially Me - well, break out the kleenex. We know I’m a fool for friendship and this is such a beautiful love letter to friends. Rolling acoustic guitars offering such a soft canvas for it. MB’s vocals delivered so well, these gentle stacks finding unique melody, asking honest, earnest, questions. And he does it all while reminding us he’s human. Nobody’s perfect, but friendship prevails, and sometimes you just gotta tell the homies you love ‘em.
DID YOU KNOW HOW MUCH YOU MEAN TO ME? HOW MUCH YOU MEAN TO EVERYONE? But especially me ; - )
Gonna be thinking about that one for a long long time. I have so much more to say about these songs and have no doubt I will be doing just that in the weeks to come.
Wilby - happiest woman
About two years and one month ago I wrote about Wilby for the first time. Her song, Bad, was/is a damn hit and so so good. And happiest woman is the same. What’s exciting is how different it is - even if the end result (it being good as hell) is the same. Wilby has grown so much as an artist, her songs feeling bigger and richer with every release. Finding and dialing in her sound, and what a sound it is, my goodness.
This one kicks off with this trudging guitar, dark and gloomy. With the bass matching, the whole song heavy as it moves. Her voice is incredible and so unique - and this performance is so cool. There’s a sharpness to her gentleness that surprises me each time I listen. The first verse is great. Reflective & insightful in content, smart & exciting in structure. That simple move of disconnecting “a habit” and revealing what the habit is just sucked me deep into the throws of this song. The chorus arrives with second layer of vocals, creating this beautiful tension between the two. Flipping into the second verse, the song drumming up some more power and fuzz. Growing from start through Chorus Two - and blooming into this bridge. The sun coming out on a rainy day, and the heat hits just as hard. Big and beautiful, I can’t stop running this one back.
Yaeji - For Granted
MHM this shit rocks. I’ve been coming back to this song more and more as this week went on. It’s catchiness growing with every listen, it’s claws digging deeper into me. The groove is marvelous, the whole song just feels cool. Yaeji’s performance is a delight and mystifying, hard not to love. Full of little bits of genius, like the little vocalized drum fill at 0:55. The song sucks you in before climaxing into the final 45 seconds. Drums going tf off, Yaeji staying calm. It’s a sick one.
ROSALÍA - LLYLM
Any ROSALÍA is cause for celebration. This one has such a wild groove, that clap pattern so engrossing, the simplicity of the bass sliding to start. I just love it all. Lo diré en inglés y me entenderás, mmh has me dead. It’s hot and fun and so elegant and well made. Just like everything she does. Good luck listening and not dancing.
Hadji Gaviota - i love smoking mid
Whew!!!! What a beat. The production is bright and digital and soft and inviting. Hadji Gaviota rips off one hell of a verse - train leaves the station and does not stop. Another bright synth pops the chorus open, the bounce undeniable. We bop through some glitching vocals before falling back into another verse. It’s easy to forget in a whirlwind like this - but Gaviota is delivering!! A quick spotlight before the second verse to show off the voice a little. Fleeting as it is, I try and savor before flying off into another chorus and boom. Song is over before you know it. Magical little gem of a tune.
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Otherwise, I’ve been loving my day to day mix lately. Thanks to songs from Boygenius, Softcult, Ice Spice, and so much more. Take a listen below, I’ve been keeping this one more updated and fresh than ever.
That’s it and that’s all. Another week another two artists that I am so excited about and hopefully you are now too. And… yeah they’re about to get paid which rules tbh!!!
Thank you all for being here, for reading, for listening. It really means the world. I hope these songs resonate with you and you send them to everyone you know (give or take) so they can enjoy the magic too. Right now, I’m pushing for 50 paid subscribers, a number that gets the artists I write about ~$100/mo, and would love for you to be a part of it.
We’ll be back in a couple weeks with a lot more music, plus our first subscriber only post is coming soon! A special acoustic performance from last issue’s own, Farrah Hanna. I’m so proud to announce that!!! And so stoked to share it. So get in here before it’s too late.
See you soon, your friend,
Max