Max's Music Mondays with MJ Lenderman and nezsa
Two absolute rippers plus new favs from Carly Rae Jepsen, Bad Bunny, Wallice, and Miya Folick
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, follow along on spotify and please be sure to absolute smash that dang subscribe button! tysm :)
We’ve reached that moment again huh? The moment where I’ve finished the rest of this newsletter and still have yet to come up with a jaw-dropping intro. A special time of the week, one we all know and love!!!
This week no matter how hard I try I can’t seem to crack it. Instead finding myself lost scrolling twitter once again - not all bad over there (mostly bad over there), with some encouraging LA politics updates (ballots are live!! let me know if you have questions!!) and fun NBA clips of course of course. But nothing that’s inspiring an unforgettable intro. So instead, I’ll share the word that’s been coming to mind lately: Patience. Patience, knowing the right thoughts will arrive next time around. Patience, knowing life moves as it’s meant to. Patience, knowing these songs, these artists, will find their fans, their sound, their world - and so will we. And what a pleasure to be a part of it now.
Ok ok ok on to some absolute stunners…
This Week’s Songs
Please please follow along here ^^ for this week’s and every week’s songs. They’re all really good I swear!!! <3 Please like and enjoy and send to someone you like and enjoy!!
MJ Lenderman - Toontown
The most observant of listeners will recognize the name. MJ Lenderman’s recent release TLC Cagematch has been floating on MMATOD (shameless plug for my other really good playlist) for a few weeks now. Lenderman’s gives an emotional, raw, tender performance in this edgy western feel. An exceptional songwriter and one-of-one vocalist, it’s been a song to get lost in and one I keep going back to. But he’s also an artist’s artist - by which I mean all my favorite artists keep posting about him. So you know it’s real. This week I spent some time with his fresh new album, Boat Songs. This thing is a trip, so many different sounds and structures but all equally mystifying and stunning and special and visceral and emotional. And all full of distinct and hilarious (if not bleak) songwriting - Hangover Game’s final line a reveal and a half!!! But anyways, we’re here for Toontown. The final single and standout track on a standout album.
The whole band tiptoes to the edge of the stage, tempted to let loose, waiting for someone to jump first. And it’s only with Lenderman’s support that they finally open up. That patient drummer creating such a moving groove - like a boat at sea slowly rocking from side to side, the whole ocean shifting underneath. The song is massive and heavy but never overwhelming. The vocal layers here are magic. Lenderman’s lead is phenomenal and even though I already talked about it, I could never say enough. What a voice. Stacked with that falsetto hidden way up there, giving the song more texture and a kiss of harmonies. It’s reminding me of Twig Twig or Jodi, (fuck, i just went back to listen to both before i linked them and omg these two songs^^ are so sick wow. treat yourself!!!) the way they feel left of center, confident in their own sound. This first verse has Lenderman bearing it all, stepping into the light admitting complete embarrassment and maybe some shame too. Really coming to life in the swells from beat to beat. The song builds up again, only to release right back with another cowboy on guitar descending back with us. That shape repeats - build, release, build, release - it’s really beautiful. This Disney World chorus is a good one, the bass front and center with the drums, holding this thing together even as the world around the song falls apart. You can feel the pain. Those big chords strumming with strength before we return to the building moment again. Dropping us right back into the verse, everything feeling harder and heavier than before. The song becoming more and more immense and powerful, the emotions bubbling up to the surface, you can feel something coming.
Meanwhile, the songwriting continues to be wonderful. This second verse’s Still trying to be funny / You can see right through me, honey really hitting for me. The verse ends and takes off, again, bigger and heavier than ever before. This is peak me rocking tf out right here. A slow head bang, still swaying forward and back, it’s bursting at the seems yet still somehow gentle? But those seams come flying apart at 2:33 - cymbals smashing, feedback exalted. It’s loud but not hostile. Somehow, amidst this chaos, it’s still inviting. A brief recovery before another explosion. It’s the same - visceral, and a lot, but honest and emotional and earned and so so stunning. And to hit that peak to then fall back into one last chorus is really a swell move. The contrast making it feel so intimate. Lenderman’s band locks eyes for a few last chords, ending with such a tense sound but one that feels right, feels like life, not quite perfect and yet still a place to find comfort as the day ends.
Follow MJ Lenderman on IG / Spotify
nezsa - Break
That guitar and flute combo - barely one second before nezsa joins, but that brief moment, that tiny morsel of song… it’s just perfect. The kind of thing that just grabs my attention and sends me reeling. It’s playful, it’s human, it’s so unlike any other combination of sounds I’ve heard recently. That’s what I love. The song fills out quickly and with a lot of success. nezsa singing, more synths sparkling like flowers blooming in the summer morning, some subtle keys, some flutes, sparse background vocals, even sparser(?) horns, a simple drum beat, and a tease of bass to come. It’s a special mix, one that is unmistakably unique. And it’s also only the first fourteen seconds so let’s keep it moving. Wait hold on - not done yet. nezsa’s tone?!?!?! are you kidding???? Unreal truly, that richness and confidence, so sure of its place. But fitted with that kiss of autotune that keeps us all on our toes. Ok now moving on for real.
The bass arriving as nezsa steps higher and higher. As smooth as ever, angelic as the song continues to come together. The chorus is lush - those background vocals so gentle as they set the scene, nezsa with the perfect edge on each lyric. The song is mixed so well, produced so well. Letting these vocals feel raw in moments, and expertly crafted in others. Sick all around. It all feels like a the perfect balance, and as nezsa sings, we see that fits the message. Worried about breaking at the hands of an intimate relationship, knowing just how fragile they could be.
The next verse is another great moment. The flow and structure stretching out to the edges, one lyric drifting into the next so effortlessly. Which is nice to counteract the pain in the words. Becoming more and more aware of this relationship’s shortcomings and how things just might not be meant to be. As nezsa’s voice pushes to the end of the verse, its haunting, slowly pushing higher and higher, taking on more effects too. Disappearing into thin air, the pre-chorus that kicked off the song sliding in quick to catch us again. It’s all so mesmerizing to me. The whole song swirling and dancing together. The whole song so purely enjoyable. You can really get lost in this last chorus, softly rolling on. The outro kicks off with one big breath there at 2:23. The whole band settling back before the final push. These panned vocals, saying hey from every direction, pouring out over this beat that has stayed consistent and stayed amazing. An intricate mix of so many instruments, the final moment lets you soak in a couple you might’ve completely forgotten were there. Something to listen for next time you run it back, which I know you will soon. nezsa just dropped Trouble, another sick single, a dark sexy groove and one she makes her own with another exceptional performance.
Follow nezsa on IG / Spotify
Here’s what else I’ve been listening to.
(click this ^^ for the full playlist lol)
Carly Rae Jepsen - Western Wind
When I saw that Rostam was producing a new CRJ song I was already putting together the first draft of this review. Because I knew I’d have a couple evergreen statements to make:
This rocks so much and I love it dearly
These two make QUITE a team
Willing to die on either hill sight-unseen or song-unheard, I guess. But my bold predictions proved perfect and true, this song really delighting me. But what I didn’t expect? That this’d be a damn Rostam song!!! We know CRJ has the ability to make a Perfect Pop Song, so a treat to venture into RostamWorld for a few mins. Off the jump, the drums feel deeply Rostam, that eerie synth floating in the ether, what a Half-Light vibe. And when CRJ joins, she’s giving an entirely new life and fresh take on a quintessential Rostam melody. I am truly freaking out about all of this. Feels like a song just made for me. TY to these two kings for hooking it up, good lord. That bridge. That guitar solo over distant keys. So juicy top to bottom.
Bad Bunny ft. Buscabulla - Andrea
The Puerto Rico collab we’ve all been waiting for. Buscabulla, maybe more than any other artist I know, has a SOUND. Their 2020 album, Regresa, is exceptional and a perfect distillation of that sound. It’s just got such a distinct texture and feel, tones and arrangements that I have never heard before. So to see them partner up with Bad Bunny… what a treat!!! And instantly they make their mark - that swelling synth, those vocals piercing yet drifting out to space, and then that bass dancing on in with a wobbling synth lead. Let some parading drum lines join and baby, this is a Buscabulla hit!! Well, the drums do join, but instead, Bad Bunny hops in too - making himself right at home in the groove. A star, of course. Buscabulla’s vocalist returns for the choruses - the three coming together to make a heartfelt and dark song. Not backing down from hard conversations, taking on the hardships still felt by women in PR today. And as the song feels its end approach around 4:20 - the Buscabulla knob gets cranked even higher, a signature drum sample slapping at 4:41 and again throughout underneath the rest of the band, everyone coming to life (esp. the bass). It’s a touching song, and so so sick to see them making music together.
Wallice - Funeral
You knowwwww I’m adding every Wallice song to the list. Darker than we’re used to, Wallice comes strolling in, almost zombie-esque over unexpectedly-tame production. But the “You’d have to kill me / to get on a party bus” line reminds that this definitely is a Wallice tune and the wild must be coming. It springs to life right after, the vocals firing off over subtle brass, a pre-chorus for the ages, building effortlessly until the whole thing EXPLODES. What a fucking chorus goodness. It’s so heavy and full-force and massive, I love it. Fading out to the most innocent scene, as if we didn’t just rock our faces off. The second verse comes from a ghost, living in Hollywood Forever Cemetery, rising up quick to get us back to the pre-chorus. This time picking up more vocals as it comes crashing into the chorus. Emotional and direct, you don’t often hear artists so young talking about funerals in this tone, it’s done so well here too. Then post-chorus, 2:52 and on the whole thing unravels, a sick as hell guitar solo rising up from the underworld and setting this song free. Soooo gritty and yet zoom out, and it’s so smooth. Another hit from Wallice :)
Miya Folick - Oh God
The first 12 seconds are enough. Enough to remind you that no one has a voice like Miya Folick. That no one writes like Miya Folick. That no one creates such visceral silence like Miya Folick. That Miya Folick makes good good music. Oh God. The production is simple and clean, a bright and light contrast to the lyrics’ heaviness. A move Folick is mastering. It’s also fun to hear such specifically modern writing (the trashy tv and Starbucks lines in particular are both a treat). The choruses are left as barren as possible, Folick’s vocals really all any song needs. Coming to terms with life being different than planned or how it used to be, reconsidering what’s real and what’s missing. It’s a beautiful song and that spotlight, brighter than ever, on Folick’s vocals makes for a really devastating and gorgeous return.
Ok see you next week :)
You know the damn vibe!! Please send to a friend, or mail man, or person who works at the lunch place down the street. If they like good music I am DESPERATE for them to come join us here. Every share means the world, truly it does.
Talk soon, yours,
Max
Really enjoyed the nzsa track! And the new Carly Rae Jepsen is awesome... really hope those two are working on more than just this single!
Nice selection 👏 "Western Wind" conquered my heart. What a vibe! 🎶