Max's Music Mondays with Compass & Hannah's Little Sister
I did another good photoshop check it out.
Welcome to Max’s Music Mondays, I appreciate you being here! Please follow the playlist on Spotify and share this bad boy with anyone you think might enjoy. Sincerely, it means the world <3
Having this intro to write every week is becoming a real gift. Becoming a place to find my voice, my self. A place for so many loose thoughts to land. For things to run around this dumb little head of mine, bump into one another and start to take the shape of something interesting. I sincerely love that I have the space to let that happen and a bunch of people are generous enough to be reading it, or at minimum, putting up with it (srsly tysm).
The days I sit down and start connecting dots between books and other newsletters and a quote from Jimmy Butler’s postgame interview, pulling out something meaningful? Those are my favorite days. But writing every week doesn’t mean writing well every week. And this week I can’t quite tie the knot on some thoughts that were banging about. I really wanted to too!! There’s a heaviness I’m holding right now, one that’s stopping me from getting to that magic moment where it all comes together. And I also have to take my computer in to get fixed… so there’s really no time to figure all this out, sorry! Oh well, I guess you lose some and win some *drake voice*. Maybe I’ll save it for next week. Maybe it’ll never work itself out. And that’s life, baby!! So even though this ever-repeating deadline might shine a spotlight on where I’ve come short this time around, it also offers refuge. Reason to spend time finding new songs, living in them, exploring the creativity and meaning they hold. And I’m grateful for that escape!!!
Dang, sorry if this intro is kind of a downer?! But, don’t worry about me, I’ve been hanging with my good pals (see the VERY real picture below).
hehehehe time for some music. Boy do we got a couple of gems this week.
Hypocrite - Compass
Feedback… beautiful beautiful feedback. That perfect gritty flutter that makes my fingertips tingle. There’s expectations being set with this, and for whatever reason my brain keeps telling me it’ll drop into a Deadmau5 song. So when the curtain parts, I am momentarily confused and incredibly delighted. Compass’ vocals are crisp, those short phrases sitting sharply alongside the drums’ rigid groove. The bass creeps up on you too. Inching on, almost like it’s playing a game of What Time Is It Mr. Fox. After Compass shows off a little range, dipping into the depths, the bass climbs the stairs all the way to this second expectation-defying drop. The moment feels like slow motion, the song swelling with layers and layers and layers of vocals. So full and lush. That quick moment of silence after “listen to a,” isn’t anything new for this song, but within the chorus feels like a black hole of beauty. Compass interjects this “no” just a touch early, filling the void and reminding you where to keep your attention. Just love this chorus. Some feedback sputters out, and we start from square one. This verse feels different with those extra vocals, taking on a new shape and texture. It’s quick and efficient, gaining steam to send us back to the chorus. Chorus in hand, it carries onward like it’s building to something even more grand, the anticipation ready to explode. So, Compass comes through with expectation-defying moment #3, the whole damn hat trick. This gentle guitar comes rolling on through, full of life, as the chorus mellows into calming waves of ooo’s. Suddenly Compass is back, this lower register feeling so much more raw and real, a new found honesty in some of these runs. It’s a beautiful song, luxurious almost(?), and full of heat. Compass clearly knows what he’s doing over there and I look forward to seeing what else comes of that confidence and ability.
Payday Junkie - Hannah’s Little Sister
Compass’ tune was a so lovely, I thought we could use a little angst to even this one out. And HLS delivers just that. You might be saying, this gentle guitar work doesn’t feel angsty. Ok fair point!! But please just give it a second. And now you might be saying, these vocals are very sweet and not very angsty! and yes, another fair point, but please please we’re almost there. There’s a darkness rumbling and when ‘These sticky carpets clinging to my last drop of dignity’ rings out, a visceral visual, we’re launched on to the chorus. These vocals come jumping out, backed by so much emotion. Plus those whoooOOOoo’s make for a perfect contrast. Just good rock music! A quick break for everyone to have some fun - the sick riff, the drum fill, the scream. Alright back to work!! This verse changes moods from it’s hopeful, if not naive verse one, into this more matter of factness, where we can feel the scene they’re in isn’t the picture they painted in their head. The song is about lead singer, Meg Grooter’s time working at a hotel at age 14(!!). The context which gives added sting to ‘Kids smushing chips into the floor again’. Life working at the hotel sounds pretty awful if I’m honest! Giving credence to all this angst that you absolutely cannot deny we’re living in now. The chorus is back, more comfortable in its own skin as it wilds out a little bit this time. There’s a world where this song ends at 2:35, HLS proclaiming the title lyric over one last explosion of this chord. But lucky for us they pushed on, too much energy not to. There’s suddenly this new chaotic guitar strumming, building so much noise the vocals start to feel watered out. Even with additional vocal layers pushing on, these screams feel muffled, you have to really reach for them. It’s a super effective move, even if you can’t quite catch each lyric, you can feel their power and you can’t escape the emotion. It fades back to this familiar guitar, feeling not-so-angsty again. But we know this is just a front, acting polite for the job, and as the laughs start to peek through before one last scream, I think we can all commiserate. Rock on Hannah’s Little Sister, rock tf on.
In case you missed it - WHAT A WEEK FOR NEW MUSIC. LOONY is back, stunning and sexy as ever. Flo Milli x Kenny Beats the new batman and robin. Caroline Kingsbury with a beautiful new single, when the drums come in around 2mins? I nearly lost it, so so perfect. Joy Oladokun x Jensen McRae with a fucked-up-how-good-this-is collab, two distinct voices fitting so well against one another. Also been banging this Buck Meek tune, so devastating. The entire Samia album reimagined also dropped and every song is perfect!!!
Hope everyone has a nice day of rest and reflection,
Max