MMM with Mia Lorelei & jerod
it's monday somewhere! two perfect songs, you're gonna love em
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 :) Your paid subscriptions go towards supporting the artists you read about here too!! That’s right(!!), the artists who made This Weeks Songs are getting paid!! <3
Happy Tuesday! The normal and expected day for me to publish this newsletter. But any day is a good day to discover your new favorite song, so better late than never or whatever!!!
This week I’m back with two GEMS from two artists I’m really excited about right now. I hope you’ll give it a listen and share with someone else who might dig these songs.
Mia Lorelei - Safe Inside (My Skin)
I mentioned this one in the Maxies, and it takes all of ten seconds to see why. Mia Lorelei is another addition to the NY community that has dominated my listening over the past year. This single, the first off an upcoming EP, is produced by the man, myth, legend, great producer and also just kind person, Ben Coleman. Gonna need a separate BC newsletter for the amount of songs I write about that he’s worked on. Anyways, the two work great together, Mia’s sound really coming through on this one.
The drums kick off so clean, that guitar radiating out to the edges. The contrast makes for a soothing intro, with the bass helping the melody take shape.
Mia Lorelei kicks it off in verse one, her voice is ridiculous. These opening lines are so patient, her delivery feeling so secure. Take a seat / conversation floats around me. Lands like in movies/music videos when everything is moving in time lapse but one person is sitting still right in the middle. Does that make sense? Lorelei coming across so cool, so personal. The kick drum shows up here and pushes things along, pushing Lorelei further too. Breaking out and exploring beyond that first moment. While they feed off offering a passionate period to the verse, a taste of Mia’s range.
The chorus rips - all there is to say really. But I can’t resist saying a little more, sorry!! A natural next moment for the song - the harmonies give it so much more texture and size. I, of course, love the drum x vocal collab on my skin. A punch to end the line. The song matches the writing so well - not just in literal music moments like that, but in ~vibes~. As she puts it’s “a track about finding your footing in new environments & an ode to my fellow homebodies” and throughout really does feel like this internal monologue, the band meeting the moment, a hype-yourself-up-in-your-room type beat.
Building off the emotions of the chorus, the everyone rages on for another moment, space to get those thoughts out. Then it falls back into the verse. The fullness of the chorus vanishing, room for a couple guitars to poke around and add some really lovely bits to brighten it up. With just a line left, Lorelei shines in the spotlight, a quiet few seconds where her soft and smooth range delivers. It drops back to the chorus and I am, as expected, rocking tf out.
The bridge really picks up on the music x themes handshake meme feeling - the song gathering steam and swirling in circles as Lorelei matches with these invasive thoughts that could spiral on forever. The drums fire off, shooting us off into the stars and catching us as we fall back into the chorus for one last run, Lorelei now at full strength, the song really building to this moment. Stellar vocals carry the outro and voila, a tune!!! Can’t wait to hear more of this project soon <3
Follow Mia Lorelei on IG / Spotify
jerod - Vince Carter
I’ve got a lot of lists of music. Finding artists to write about takes a lot of time and a lot of digging. But those collections of songs are always a special treat to return to, to hear what caught me when I heard it the first time, or find out what else they’ve released since**. This song checks both boxes. There are songs like this where I listen back and think, why in the world has it taken me this long to write about them. But alas, now is the time!!!!
I’m not sure how exactly jerod’s music fell into my lap but my grateful little ass is thanking the music gods that it did. This is the kind of thing we’ll have to call deeply my shit. Take a listen to jerod’s TURTLE album from last fall - late night, guitar driven r&b with beautiful production all around it. I love jerod’s vocals across the project, the writing too - if / only you knew / how much i do / do love you (from if only u knew… off TURTLE) - it’s all intimate and loving and beautiful.
This track follows suit - gorgeous production, stellar vocals, and just a sweet sweet song. Falling out of a bit of percussion chaos into this immediate and intoxicating groove. jerod dances over it with a gentle melody, earning the title, VC smooth, flying through the air. That little harmony comes in with a layer of static, it widens the whole and shakes it free of its shape. Some chatter underneath, the whole thing feeling loose and beautiful.
At 0:25 it’s all gone, building back up with bass, some stunning keys, and guitar dancing around the edges. It hits its stride when you can feel those extra vocals on either side of the mix, giving the song so much depth as it heads towards this chorus-y bit at 0:48 - more vocals sampled/effected layered over the top, the record scratching giving this wild ear-catching sound, it’s sharp and effective along side so much softness building. It’s fun to hear these vocals in so many new shapes. Coming out of it, we slide on with the final dribbles of drums, guitar strumming, some new keys hammering on out. A really beautiful tune, coming to a close.
SIKE!!! With one mini-fill we’re back at it again. And thank god, because I wasn’t done yet. I don’t wanna have to miss out on this window / but even if i had to sit i couldn’t let go. jerod wanting so badly for this moment, this relationship to connect the way he knows it can. Again - the static + talking + harmony combo goes absolutely wild, a perfect touch. The band drops out, the drums rolling up to the cliff’s edge, before jerod returns with a timeless sound. Seriously the tones across the board here… genius!!! The bass and guitar playing so well together, the keys raining down, it’s crazy!! Kind of reminds me of that 2020 Overtime - pt 1 / dimeback Mk.gee sound? It’s not a direct comparison, this is very much its own thing, but it’s in the universe. Which is to say, the universe of stuff I like, which is obvious at this point I am sure.
Home stretch here, with 30 seconds to go, and those final chords really stand out this time. The one new, seemingly misplaced chord pulling attention and resolving so nicely. A really satisfying end to the moment. Even from here to the end, we’re again blessed with all the best parts of the song pulled off one last time - vocal fx, record scratch, restrained but major drums, jerod with a sick performance to the very last note. Love this track, came out as a part of a great compilation - friendship music 1 - a great collection from an LA music collective and they’re literally all so damn good. TAKE A LISTEN.
**These playlists also serve as a great place for me to look for artists who might want to join my second compilation (let this be the first official mention, the second comp is on its way) but that’s for another day.
Follow jerod on IG / Spotify
There’s nothing I love more than the chance to share music I love with people who will give the tunes a chance. If you liked this songs, please share them with a friend! Then you get to have the joy too, and I get secondhand joy!! It’s amazing, we all win and can all be so happy <3
The newsletter continues to pick up steam and evolve and I’m stoked about what’s to come. Can’t wait for you to see it soon!
See you next week. With love,
Max