Max's Music Mondays with dai5y and Son Step
music is good!!! here are two powerful examples.
Welcome to Max’s Music Mondays - a ~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 press that subscribe button. Thanks to everyone who did last time around, fills my heart to the dang brim!! Coming up on some lovely milestones so please spread the dang word and make all my dreams come true.
I’M BACK (again). Well… we certainly tried to go to Bonnaroo… My flight landed about an hour after the festival had been cancelled due to the hurricane, and folks, that sucked!! My friends and I still stuck around and tried to salvage the weekend. And we did! Still got some camping in, still got to see a wild show of Sylvan Esso -> Brittney Howard -> Phoebe Bridgers (they were all absolutely incredible. If Brittney Howard is coming to your town soon… treat yourself to a SHOW) and followed that up the next night with Liz Cooper (who also rocked), and at the end of the day/weekend, still got some quality time with close friends.
But I’ve been stuck in this emotional tug-of-war, one that feels like life in general right now. Trying to enjoy the good amidst plenty of bad. Holding the grief of losing the moments we had looked forward to, while cherishing what we got. So much bad and still so much good? Idk, it’s a hard balance to find, harder to enjoy, and one that leaves me feeling a little off from moment to moment. So this week I found a song that soothed me while I try and another that embodies the push and pull. I hope they’ll do the same for you, if you find yourself stretched by an unrelenting present.
This Week’s Songs
Please please follow along here ^^ for this week’s and every week’s songs. Each song is perfect and that is an objective fact and in no way my biased opinion i promise.
DO WHATA I WANNA - dai5y
What a friggin’ statement of an opening lyric. I’m only me when I’m reckless, my shy ass wishes!!! In this moment where I’m feeling every which way, it’s nice to lean in and succumb to a big ol banger like this one. Living vicariously through dai5y’s realizations and self-acceptance. From the jump her vocals are unforgettable. They feel honest and genuine, helping kick things off vulnerably and have it land. As the background ooo’s float over that deep bass’s waves, I’m so excited to see where it goes. The slow clap begins… ok it’s almost time. But hold your dang horses there’s so much to hear, here, too! The melody across this happiness section is so beautiful <3. But sorry we simply can’t wait any more. The song is refuses to stop - the drop offering big 808’s alongside that little video game twinkle to balance each other out. It’s also a completely new side of dai5y. Taking it from this elegant verse slowly stretching out as it rode the production, to a more confident demanding-the-spotlight delivery. Now leading groove as the production fills in the cracks. It’s a simple and catchy chorus, direct and admirable. Besides the smile that “got drip like a sauna” puts on my face, she lets it rip in a way that’s impossible to disagree with. Like, you know it’s true. And so does she. That feeling continues into this next verse, a flow that fits just right but still gives you moments to stand in awe at her vocals. All of it is so smooth. A perfect symphony of sound effects surround us throughout the scene, all tasteful and all adding to the moment. Spicing things up without distracting us from dai5y. We return to that beautiful verse/pre-chorus, now feeling incredibly calming, a breath of fresh air from the party. It’s brief this time, because well, the party is just too much fun and we have to get back in there. Good luck not singing along to the chorus this time around. It releases us into a really fun verse. The melody gets a little children’s-lullaby-y which is harder to type than it is to know, but you get it. This playful feel, full of fierce lyrics, capped off with that vicious roar (and adorable grr adlib, a perfect combo). The roller coaster line queues another perfect sound effect, as we climb back up the verse/pre-chorus to one last chorus. dai5y really going off this time, showing off the pipes underneath a light filter. Makes this one feel that much more passionate as the song comes to a close. What a treat.
Follow dai5y on IG / Spotify
New Ears - Son Step
This song really harnesses my current feeling everything feeling all too well. I haven’t been able to shake it since I first heard it. We’re on a trail somewhere. Sun poking through the trees as the synth descends, it’s familiar but I can’t place it, a bit unsettling. That bass keeping so warm, that subtle saxophone so calming. I can’t get enough of the percussion either, human, gentle, progressing us forward. And what a groove!??! The whole intro scene is stunning, finding said groove in a way that almost sneaks up on you? Our first taste of lyrics riding that rhythm, as words linger from phrase to phrase. With an optimistic but uncertain look forward, our opening verse begs you to appreciate the present. This same balance of finding the good amongst the bad comes through in the lyrics (maybe I’m projecting). I love the growing garden imagery, so promising but needing patience. And these vocals really hit for me, direct and sure but something about them is so gentle too? Plus, I just adore the melody. The way their tone suits the melody too, a perfect match. Around 1:38 we shift into this ‘I never said’ section, its sparsity leaving room to be haunting. Those background vocals hold so much emotion, the drums picking and choosing when to pop in. That second time around, the ‘I never said’ comes across as almost accepting(?) as we feel the whole band breaking down. A moment to consider it, one deep breath, before everyone is back and swaying once again. It’s a powerful return, this groove still captivating me, as each instrument seems to swell back up just a beat away from where you expect them. When it all falls into place… that’s gonna be a chefs kiss!! Ok ok I can hear you BEGGING me to tie this back to the trail metaphor from before and yeah, I guess I will! Right when we’ve reached our breaking point, exhausted, maybe lost even, we turn a corner and see the opening off in the distance. Feeling that comforting boost of energy to carry us home. We get another verse, the tambourine holding us steady now, alongside some delightful little flairs from the drums. Vocals still crushing of course. The quietest background vocal off in the distance, the friend you know is there when you need them. It gives way to a fuzzy version of the riff, only making its acoustic counterpart that much more noticeable. A mesmerizing ending to a beautiful song.
Follow Son Step on IG / Spotify
Ok business time - normally I plug the playlist again. And I know that on the #RoadTo300 (we’re truly so close…) I should really keep the message focused. But my GOD the other playlist is so fucking good these days. If you want a bit more music, throw this bad boy on shuffle, there’s just so many good songs!!!
Anyways, thank you as always for reading, for supporting, for sending to 5 friends in order to avoid being cursed, etc. etc. you know the vibes!!!
Wishing everyone the best week of their lives, yours,
Max