Substitute Teacher 01 - Romy Bayhack
a new format with a new friend
Welcome to Max’s Music Mondays, a music discovery newsletter. Normally, I find two songs from artists you might not know but absolutely should. But once a month I like to do something different. Hope you enjoy <3 Come back again for more new music.
CLASS IS IN SESSION!! Put away your phones!!! Welcome to the first in MMM’s new series - Substitute Teacher. A monthly(ish) thing, giving music lovers who I admire the chance to talk about the artists, albums, songs that mean a lot to them.
Couldn’t think of a better person to kick us off. This week’s guest writer is Romy Bayhack. Romy and I met all-too-briefly at SXSW last year. Bumping into her at every Medium Build gig, naturally. We stayed internet friends, before our paths crossed again at MUNA’s set at Bonnaroo - so obviously we trust her with our lives. Romy is a deeply passionate music fan, and hosts a weekly radio show - Pop Sick through Radio Free Brooklyn. She has guests on, using music to guide their conversation/stories, or she’ll take on a theme like Some Anti-Seasonal Depression Songs. It’s such a fun way to get to know the guests, and a great hour of music every time. I feel like Pop Sick and MMM are kindred spirits in a way, approaching music with love, excitement, and joy.
If you follow Romy on IG (AND YOU SHOULD) one thing is clear - she stans Angie McMahon. One of those artists that I feel adjacent to but nervous to dive in?? Will I fall TOO in love with it? Will I somehow not get it?? Idk what the anxiety that holds me back from but it doesn’t seem fair! To me or to Angie!!! But in witnessing Romy’s love, I thought it’d be wonderful to have her write a little something about what makes McMahon so special.
So without further ado, Romy Bayhack on Angie McMahon:
I Hope I Am Always Exploding
From the moment I pressed play on Angie McMahon’s second album Light, Dark, Light Again in October 2023, I’ve tried to find sufficient words for the way it makes me feel. What follows is my best attempt at this time. It was in August 2023 that my cherished friend Grace sent me “Letting Go'' and I think something deeply shifted for me then. The lines “I've been learning 'bout letting go/How to do it without my claws/Scratching the surfaces” and the repetitive closing “Make mistakes, it’s ok.” grabbed me immediately and has stayed close ever since. She says, “The trick was simply to surrender.” and these words ring in my head regularly, as with so many of life’s hardships and continuous emotional turmoil…the trick really is to surrender, to let go, and not attempt to control everything all the time, because sometimes there’s nothing to really do but let things happen. McMahon also lets herself be celebrated, sweetly offering, “I might be prouder of me than I ever have been.” I, too, want to be proud of myself, and pat myself on the back every now and then.
In September 2023, Angie played a sold out show at Bushwick’s Sultan Room which I was lucky enough to attend. The air was still – as if we were all witnessing something extraordinary. I went home and pre-ordered a vinyl of an album I hadn’t yet heard for the first time in my life.
With 13 songs, McMahon crafted a life-affirming, medicinal, empowering body of work that embraces change – the natural cycle of all kinds of death and rebirth, the plunging downhill and the climb back uphill and the inevitability of this process, even if temporary. These natural cycles that also exist in nature are weaved in throughout via cohesive, thoughtful co-production by Brad Cook (Bon Iver, The War On Drugs) that includes running water and birds chirping which form an incredibly grounding, immersive listening experience. McMahon sits in pain while lifting herself out of it, as if to float through it. It’s profoundly optimistic without ever being corny. It acts as a consistent, unfaltering light at the end of the tunnel, a lifeboat in the tumultuous sea of life if you will. With every listen I discover a new favorite line, production element, or vocal riff. These 49 minutes and 52 seconds have brought me closer to myself in ways I didn’t know I needed.
Other standouts include the compelling, layered vocals and building rhythm on “Divine Fault Line” that each rise to the surface so steadily — you can feel her courage mounting. On nearly every track, McMahon expertly utilizes repetition, as if to convince herself of the words she’s saying, in a way that often comes across as spiritual, subtle but comforting. She seems to reassure herself throughout that she is OK and will be OK, and you will be too. And I believe her. The most notably gut-wrenching “Black Eye,” where McMahon loves deeply and unapologetically, “I don’t feel bad for loving you/Just the way I apply super glue super heavy,” and the sweet and light, “I will dance at the same time as breakfast” on “Serotonin” attempts to start each day with optimism, an image and idea that warms my heart with each listen.
It’s an album that impressively looks inward without ever pinning blame on anyone else, or harboring any real ill will. McMahon said to Beat AU, it’s about, “restoring compassion to the way that I communicate with myself.” How crucial in such an uncertain, turbulent time to be alive.
With perhaps the most satisfying, cathartic build and release on the album, “Exploding” sees McMahon long for eternal emotional absolution. A lifelong desire to be emotional, expressive, explosive, to never succumb to any pressure to be something else or to be smaller or quieter. May we all embrace emotion for as long as possible, as widely and as loudly as necessary.
An incredibly satisfying ending, LDLA closes on “Making It Through”. “Time is supposed to run out, time is supposed to / Sun is supposed to go down, sun is supposed to / Like your mood, like your power, like your battery / Rise, fall, rise, life, death, life again.” A touching reminder that everything ends and begins again–words that have the ability to seamlessly propel one forward. To experience these words is to feel invincible and to feel capable. Quietly, brilliantly, exceptionally nourishing, energizing, and forgiving and I am endlessly grateful for this body of work that contains a limitless well of reassurance and hope.
HOLY MOLY. Folks, it’s Max again, and wow am I inspired. Reading this has finally given me the courage - rather the need - to dive into this record. So grateful that Romy took the time to share what makes it so special, and hope you can appreciate it too. Can I get a “Thank you, Romy” going in the chat please.
One last time, for more great music takes, you can find her:
Catch you next week for our January Recap. And PLEASE let me know what other music people out there you’d like to hear from as our next Substitute Teacher.
Best,
Max