Max's Music Mondays with Shayhan and Memphis LK
2022, year of me still writing about two amazing songs on a Monday.
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 be sure to absolute smash that dang subscribe button! tysm :)
Well well well. What do we have here? It’s actually Max’s Music Monday?! As I live and breath! It’s been almost a month since we’ve done one of these, it feels good to be back. Thank you for the love on The Maxies btw - that one is doing numbers and you always love to see that (even as I repeat my afffirmation “numbers do not control my mood”). It’s such a joy to celebrate music I love like that, and sincerely appreciate anyone who took the time to read a little of it.
Anyways - it’s 2022 now and a new year means new intentions for this dang ‘sletter. tbh it’s mostly the same, still me finding/sharing music I love. But I do want to ~level up~ everything. The big things: finding the music that really excites me, slowly but surely giving each writeup the time it deserves, and improving the writing as we go. Plus the small things: playlist covers, updating an archive/trimming this now 24 hour long playlist, etc. Just treating this whole thing like the real thing it is, as embarrassing as it feels to type that!!
As always, proud of what this has become and thrilled about what it still can be. All the while, grateful for you being here and making that possible. As always, if there’s music you’re excited about or things you’d love to see here, you know where to find me (hitting reply to this)!!
But for now, let’s get to it. New music awaits!!!
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!!
Shayhan - Goodbye
There’s a lot of pressure to pick the right song to start our year over here. Trying my hardest to pick something special, which really just means something I’m incredibly excited about. And this is, of course, just that. Simple on its face, it’s so easy to fall in love with this song. Endless little details and choices that make it special. The two chord intro, with those notes blasting out like a saxophone x foghorn combo as it repeats. Two times through and Shayhan hops in, his voice is so smooth I just instantly feel at home. The band coming through clear now too, an echoing synth and that saxofog(?) giving it so much size. A subtle second layer soars over “bet on what feels safe", coming back with gentle woah’s to close the phrase and send the band behind a filter. It’s also this first section where Shayhan refuses to sit still, the melody and flow taking on new shapes with each line. With the band holding steady, he becomes the lead instrument, carving new paths from note to note, moment to moment. A consistent approach for the rest of the song too. Just shy of a minute and the band steps even further back, Shayhan really shining now. I love the cheeky “almost never” line, still delivered as earnest (and probably is!) but a little smile peeking out too. It kicks into a new gear there, the next line hitting the offbeats, getting my shoulders moving up and down, bouncing with so much ease. The perfect build up into the chorus - the band at full swing, a second vocal belting out way back there, while the lead gets layered up front. Again beautiful and a perfect little choir, but so fun and interesting regardless of where your attention is drawn. More moments of winking brilliance follow - see the moment of silence after the peace of mind line, or the background vocals that follow soon after. The whole thing really coming together nicely (hence why it’s here I guess). It ebbs and flows its way back to one last chorus, the two vocal scenes playing nicely alongside each other, hard to resist any of it. In a cinematic fade out - we cut to Shayhan walking and snapping along, singing about and seeming to act on a need to turn that page. The whole Mr. Fish EP is a delight, finding beauty no matter the genre. The same also true about his latest single, House Guy - no matter the sound, no matter the emotions, it’s all a party. See for yourself.
Follow Shayhan on IG / Spotify
Memphis LK - tricky
A massive production and an intimate vocal, this one strikes such a stunning balance I couldn’t resist it. That intro alone. The synth is contained enough and all feels manageable. But the pace is unshakable, and that tiny drum fill at 0:07 hinting at something much more urgent on the horizon. Meanwhile while I scramble for the seatbelt, terrified that the impending change might knock me out of my seat, Memphis LK sits unfazed and honest, “last night I was lying in bed, overanalyzing all the things I said”. So gentle and calm, even as the drums kick in and we bounce up and down the melody. Everything is building and building until… the release arrives. It’s big and gnarly, that bass demanding a lot of attention. But rather than knocked out of my seat, it’s like one big hug. Those ahhh’s, angelic as they float under the bass. LK’s honesty continuing, giving herself space to acknowledge the trickiness of the situation, asking for grace in figuring it all out. The whole moment punchy but welcoming. Another night, another tough go it seems, an all too familiar anxiety creeping in over that second verse. The prechorus’ melody flattens out a bit this time, more somber without the beautiful jumps back to the higher points. Like the frustration is building more and more. The quietest vocal goes for a stunning run in the final beats, dropping us right back into the chorus. This whole thing flying at warp speed. This time the “tricky” ad-lib echoes out and comes back around to get its own moment. Obviously harkening to Run-D.M.C. but as the voracious gamecube player I was, I can’t help but see Mac and Kaori going big at Mt. Girabaldi in SSX Tricky. Swirling up nostalgia and still feeling brand new this song has got it all. And then some!! It’s not over!! The SSX moment leads to a breakdown, the drums coming in at half-speed, the vocals painting more slow-dance elegance. Plenty of sounds thunder across the song, reminding us that it’s not all peachy. A reminder we get from LK again too, blasting off for one more chorus. Some wonderful new layers carry the outro, and it’s over in just over two minutes. Jam-packed from the first moment, so fun at every turn. I’ve really enjoyed this one and am tuned tf in for more Memphis LK.
Follow Memphis LK on IG / Spotify
Ok nice, I can still do this!! I was a little nervous, it had been so long. But glad to share these two today and to share plenty more again soon. Happy new years to each of you I hope your resolution is to keep reading and sharing this with someone who also likes good music because I think that’d be a very easy/good/fun resolution imo.
Take care! I’ll be back Friday with The Maxies pt. 2: The Finale.
Until then,
Max