Max's Music Mondays with Maxx Marshall and FPA
don't worry i still have one 300-themed graphic left :)
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! That would be meaningful to me!!
I thought about doing a We did it, Joe!! meme, where Joe = all of us who have liked the dang playlist? But had a hard time translating that to a visual medium. But I hope that doesn’t take away from just how genuinely grateful I am for everyone’s likes, helping MMM reach a completely arbitrary milestone of 300 likes. One mostly notable because of its potential for bad graphics (see above).
It was really fun to celebrate finally hitting 300 likes last week. And now we’re at a scorching pace, already up to 312. Really wild that if you post about something, more people might find out about it… hmmm maybe I post more?!?!?! But regardless if you thought the celebration for 300 was big, just wait until we hit 500, it’s going to be something else (I have no idea what, but I’m saying this now so I have to do something).
The internet always feels weird to me. Social media et al. Each space feeling like its own separate world. So it did strangely feel both vulnerable and fulfilling to “celebrate” earnestly(?) on main. And yeah, I do feel silly typing this, obviously none of this is major - 300 is not that many likes!! posting something on IG is truly the simplest thing to do!! - but it usually makes me anxious, so it felt good no matter how small. MMM has become a place where I can, and want to, be myself. A place where I am comfortable and know my voice. Not always the case on IG for good old Max, so it ~felt nice~ to post “my way” (bad photoshop and overly specific/bad meme - both of which I had a blast making). Obviously this is a Life Lesson to just be more myself everywhere all the time, and yeah!!! I’m trying!!! but felt worth mentioning here, where I am comfortable. Maybe some of you will relate, but it is mostly a reminder for myself, to know that feeling and lean into it at every chance I get.
Both of these songs have no problem doing just that. And I admire them for it. Honest, open, and generous with how they share. With both how beautiful their messages are and how beautifully they’re shared. Hope you enjoy.
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.
Questions - Maxx Marshall
Oooooooh man oh man I’ve been so excited for this one. And it’s not just because his name is Maxx and I’m jealous of the second x. Which, to be honest, I absolutely am. It’s because he’s an incredible artist. My first time hearing Maxx was a previous single, Gabriel, off of the recent EP, Angels Are a Gorgeous Waste of Time. Holy moly that song is some of the most heartbreaking, emotional, and real storytelling. I get chills every time I listen to it. So, yeah, I’ve been excited for whatever was next to come. And it was worth the wait. The same vulnerable writing, remarkable performance, but this time trusting an expanded band and wonderful production to help share the message. Immediately unique and catchy as hell - that opening melody doubled side-by-side, a light sprinkle of autotune, it’s spectacular. We get hit with a ‘good god’ the cue for the guitar, still humble. Those extra background vocals comforting me the whole way. Some ingenious writing here too “why do clouds bruise like peaches?” “i’m falling apart in some Picasso”, all while the production grows, almost more like elevating, as we approach the minute mark. Some so’s bounce back and forth sucking us in on the brink of something new. The clock strikes 1:00 and it all changes (cinderella vibes?!?!). That melody from the intro is back, this time with great drums rolling around, some synth twirling in reverse way out in the distance. Not long before the guitar brightens and fills out the moment, a new synth bouncing across the song. This section has so much momentum, and with perfect sounds and harmonies, I could sit in it for another five minutes, just evolving as it goes. Instead, Maxx rips the rug out from under us, leaving nothing but some chords and some vocals. But saying ‘some vocals’ is misleading. They are fantastic, and the story we’re left to soak up is intense. The release back to the full band is a release. Dancing while I sing along, “Call Mom / cuz you need a good cry”, those strings sneaking up on us. The emotional stakes are high and it’s pulled off so well. We get back to that familiar melody again, now over some arpeggiated synths poking about and having fun. Capturing that feeling of mind-racing internal thoughts, not being sure who and when to ask these questions to. The songs’s most intimate scene, the vocals taking a leap of faith out there on their own, they fall only to get swooped up in a big ol finale. The drums shining more, that bouncing synth, some vocal samples, the whole thing slowly turning into noise as the feedback cranks up. It’s a stunning end to a stunning song, really do love this one and cannot recommend Maxx enough.
Follow Maxx Marshall on IG / Spotify
The Loved One - FPA
I am blown away, FPA. This song is able to stir up so much, so efficiently. Its intense and personal intimacy makes it hard not to get sucked in. And that’s true to me from the very start, a horn or two reaching out, those gentle guitar chords tumbling on. It has a fog-is-rising-to-reveal-the-sun feel to it, and I guess that makes FPA the sun. And they certainly are a star!!! (I am so sorry, I tried so hard not to type that but my fingers betrayed me… but also I do believe it) These vocals land over a strong piano, whose tone is so beautiful - the first chord reminding me so specifically of the first chord of this Oneohtrix Point Never song. A song I’ve buried myself in so many times over the last like 8 years, so maybe that’s what’s pulled me so quickly into this one? Well it’s either that or the fact that FPA is immensely talented? Idk could go either way (leaning towards the latter). Ok not to get too hung up on this very first phrase, but a) the lyric is sick - loving and demanding of love in this way I don’t think I’ve ever heard before? and b) the melody on “Say you are” is SPECIAL. That’s about the limit of my music theory vocabulary, but the more I hear it the more I am mesmerized by it. Three words moving easily, perfect in this indescribable way. Quick check in, we’re like 30 seconds into the song, and this is a lot of words for so few seconds so let’s keep moving. The verse holds steady, and as we reach this chorus FPA’s vocals are smooth and yearning as ever. “You are my something” pours out over and over. It’s vague by definition, but so specific in its feeling. By the end, that last repetition, you can almost feel the ‘are’ sliding towards ‘were’. FPA rallies back, the second verse kicking off with some reflection. Her voice just as powerful and convincing as a rapper as when she sings. Transitioning back to her gentle delivery so naturally. Some beautiful moments of production here too: the stutters, a couple pulses from a low, clouded sound. The singing section brings that low sound forward, a haunting layer to close the verse. It dissipates in the pre-chorus and the song does feels lighter for it. We get back to the chorus and with a swirling piano, some subtle strings/guitar, the moment now feels so lush. The fog lifted, and now the sun is sneaking through the trees. In the chorus’s last run, the bass shines. It’s wonderful - warm and optimistic. A soothing end to a dramatically gorgeous song. The full project is coming next week(!!!) on 37d03d, I’m excited.
Ta-da! Another week is here and this one is special (selfishly)… Thursday is my birthday and guess what, I am excited, SUE ME!! Please don’t, actually! So we’ll see, maybe I’ll do something birthday themed(??) for Friday’s edition? Probably not! But I guess we’ll all find out together. In the meantime, please share this with anyone/everyone you know. I’m talking siblings, parents, friends, your Trader Joe’s cashier, the FedEx delivery person, someone famous even! I wholeheartedly appreciate you reading and when I see those shares/new subscribers?? Oooo my heart starts fluttering <3 <3
xoxo happy Monday,
Max