Max's Music Mondays with Melissa Ramón and Keathley
two bangers you will not wanna miss. I SWEAR.
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 :)
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Yeah that’s right I’m back in LA, baby!!! Starting a new month back at home and feeling fantastic about it. I missed this place dearly while in NY the past three weeks. Just missed so many places and people, and excited to be back.
The trip to NY was a great one. Brutally hard and challenging in so many ways. But unforgettable and wonderful in so many more. So many special people to share time with, I’m grateful I have the chance drop in, if only for a few weeks.
The newsletter even got a shoutout during a damn concert. It was surreal and amazing and tbh still pinching myself when I think about it. So much love to Farrah Hanna (and congrats on another stellar single, y’all better listen!!!!).
I’m coming home feeling recharged about this newsletter, getting to spend time seeing first hand that we’re having real impact on artists I love. It means so much and I’m SO excited about what’s to come this fall.
Until then, I’m back to what I know best, writing about songs I love. This week’s picks have been knocking around my head for weeks, and finally found the words to tell you about them. I hope you enjoy…
Melissa Ramón - Superstar Baby
Warm, inviting, human, this intro guitar welcoming us all in. Just one chord to start, and that’s more than enough for me. It’s somehow so full, the tone is just right. When it finally reaches for new notes it’s serene. I probably could’ve sat in that first chord for another thirty seconds but glad for change, and glad for what that change brings too. Melissa Ramón in layer after layer pouring out softly. A wonderful lead vocal, hums filling the foundation, harmonies popping in here and there. It’s sick.
It’s such an intimate and endearing first scene too. Presumably Ramón stands in front of a lover, playing her song just for them. Your smile in my bedroom… your face is my crowd. The imagery feels genuine, and you can feel the excitement building. The lyrics giving the title a heartwarming context when it hits. To be there, just them and you, while you vulnerably offer your art and feel like you’re their superstar??? That is magic. That is a dream. And that touching thought builds with repetition. You can hear the band feeling it, and you can almost here Ramón starting to smile as that drums thunder into this break just shy of a minute in. The whole band at full force, some feedback sliding across the sky. Some vocalizing keeping us warm through the power. The moment extends on and there’s a subtle solo - a fuzzy guitar, maybe a synth - dancing around back there. Managing to give this instrumental scene some more emotion.
When Ramón gets back to the mic, the chord changes feel massive. The moment feels massive. Like climactic massive. Her writing here is just as great, riding this high knowing just what she wants even if she knows it might be reckless. The band supports her every step. Together, they keep this energy alive, back into the Superstar Baby section. This time feeling just as aspirational/hopeful as it does a declaration to this person. Just thinking about how good this could feel. Honestly seems like a win-win!
It settles back into another guitar-driven verse. The band taking a breath after that heavy stretch. We return to that familiar first bedroom, but this time, wait what’s that… oh my god, here we go!!! The band comes bursting back through the door, a stage unfolding out of nowhere, her bedroom stuffed to the brim with amps and band members and risers and a huge screen in the background and crazy lights, and everyone is going nuts, even if the crowd is still just one lucky fan. Ramón letting it rip a little harder too, rising to the moment and what a moment it is. This time, the last time, I’m your superstar baby feels sure. Feels confident. Feels real. The band peels back for one last second, Ramón back in her bedroom, the stage gone, the stakes just as high. A perfect end to a great tune.
I found Melissa on TikTok and am fully obsessed, so if you see me in the comments… come join. There’s another song coming down the pipe and I can’t wait. Just a knack for exciting melodies and amazing writing.
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Follow Melissa Ramón on IG / Spotify
Keathley - Frostbite
There’s something deeply mesmerizing about this song. Each element coming together perfectly, it all feels so right. The guitar is steady, that kick drum full of depth, those reverberating chords twisting on the outsides, that gentle flute warming up just past 14 seconds in. Like a cozy home on a snowy day. Feels like a mug of hot chocolate.
And then Keathley takes the mic. It’s an unforgettable voice, an unforgettable performance, a song I have come back to time and time and time and time again. Two takes sitting side by side, slightly imperfect and absolutely right. The first verse is modest and clear. Painting our surroundings through this beautiful balance that’s like conversational poetry?? Making lyrics like “my belly hurts” feel so beautiful, so full of emotion, elegant even. Especially when we find out why… stunning! A moment to appreciate that lyric before launching into the chorus.
Adding another vocal to the mix, the bass warm and full, elevating the moment in a major way without disrupting the song’s natural flow. And the songwriting is brilliant. A terrifying thought lingering in Keathley’s head, trying to sort out life’s trickiest questions. Doesn’t everyone want to make sense of it all?
Another verse flowing in, insecurities coming up and washing away as a partner’s opinion seems to quiet the thought. On paper that feels like a beautiful thing, but the song’s tone and the next lyric seem to say otherwise. Like, it’s less about “oh this person only sees the best in me” but more seeking their approval, or even living within someone’s perspective/opinion? Like they’re always right, and what they say really determines what’s ok or not? As Keathley grasps for meaning and understanding in the chorus, it seems like they’re getting swept up in this other person’s thoughts, losing track of their own sense of self too.
We spill back into that chorus, familiar shape with new lyrics to share more of the story, more of the concern. It’s full of texture, layers of ambience, and even the tiniest little “woo!” after bitten by the frost. It swirls into an eerie-as-all-hell, screams-into-the-ether moment that is certified spooky! Even as we reach the final few moments, the confusion feels as heavy as ever, Keathley still trying to make sense of this entire situation and just understand where they stand in this relationship.
The final lyrics show one last scene, again shouldering discomfort at the opinion of another. It hits me in the heart and I just hope this narrator finds more clarity soon. A beautiful song that ebbs and flows, finding these emotionally impactful peaks within a pared back arrangement. It’s a special one and Keathley’s voice is again, so damn good, so haunting and loving and fantastic. Cannot wait for more. The band has been playing like crazy out in OK and I feel like every clip I see is better than the last. Now’s the time to tap tf in!!!
Follow Keathley on IG / Spotify
Thanks for reading this far. If you enjoyed yourself, consider subscribing! It makes this all sustainable for me and helps directly pay the artists. A little goes a long way, especially for musicians in a ever-more-brutal industry. Feels amazing to be a part of a ‘new way’ to support artists, and would love for you to join us.
XOXO,
Max