Thursday Bonus Edition ft. Soft Streak (Live!!)
Not a prank, I swear it's real
Welcome to Max’s Music Mondays. This is a ~bonus~ email, a part of an ongoing series with artist features and exclusive performances (ok, look at us go!!) and I hope you enjoy as much as I do. As always, I will forever be your best friend if you follow and subscribe!!
Well well well, we’re back with another Thursday Bonus Edition (name still pending, all suggestions welcome) and this one? Oh, it’s a good one. “Is this an April Fools joke?” you ask. NOPE! It is really good.
So let’s give a warm Max’s Music Mondays welcome to Soft Streak *crowd goes absolutely bonkers, I can hear the applause through the screen*. One of my favorite bands, I wrote about their song Ride for MMM back in October of 2018 while living in Chicago and writing these in iMessage (RIP the group text days, i miss you). Needless to say this was a joy, and I tried not to fan out too much... but I promise you’re gonna love them. Today we’ve been blessed with:
a live performance of Ways to Lose, an unreleased song off their album (which drops on April 9th you better be pre-saving!!!)
my writeup on their latest single, A Woman on the Verge
another song they think we should hear too
Saddle up, it’s time to rock!!
Ways to Lose (Live)
Awe-inspiring stuff right there, how lucky are we?! That powerful piano intro sets the tone and the mood. “I could stare for hours at a screen / deluding all my senses, scrolling through a feed” pouring out. It strikes the balance I’ve come to love from Soft Streak - modern and honest lyrics coming to life over compositions that overflow with a timeless elegance. The bass kicks in - and wow, what an all-too-rare combo for a duo. There’s an emotional tension building, and it feels familiar to me. This reflection on our own actions with a hint of regret in the melody. Digging, asking, looking for some kind of answer but it feels just out of reach. It resolves as thought turns to action, a beautiful melody over what I can only describe as a touching chord progression. I will never get tired of the way these keys sound, they’re perfect. There’s so much emotion and power in such a simple arrangement here, ugh, it just feels special!! As the frame starts a slow zoom forwards, we get one of my favorite verses in recent memory:
I could wait for you to write me back
Passive aggressive silence, I won’t be first again
I could hold a grudge for several years
You think that you’ve had bad luck, well I’m a broken mirror
I just love it. Poetic and vulnerable, this exposing of our flaws and the emotional toil they can drive us to cast on ourselves. There’s power in the awareness of it though, the reflection in broken mirror offering a little wink. We return to the chorus, thoughtful and warm - almost like you’re hugging yourself? It all flows so naturally towards this bridge/outro which feels deeply intimate and personal, driven by the continued use of you/me. And as the vocals pull back a bit, they soften just enough to make that intimacy haunting. It’s a stellar performance of an incredible song, one that I can’t wait to listen to over and over (just an FYI for whoever is working on my Spotify Wrapped this year, maybe just mark this one down for later) when it drops on April 9th.
A Woman on the Verge
Listen… I am so grateful this newsletter exists. And yes, of course, I write the newsletter so you’d assume as much. But, I really am grateful!!! Days when I get to spend so much time listening and thinking about music I love, artists I love, it’s a lucky little thing I’ve got going over here. And songs like this are an explicit reminder.
The intro is enough for me, honestly. This dignified synth feeling like we’re sauntering through the castle as it song walks with us. The drums-to-soloed-breath awaking us from the dream and grounding us in the present. Lyrics quickly suggesting that maybe the intro was a way to hide from, or escape from, this moment too. Avoiding whatever impending feelings are on the horizon, whether “on the verge of a break, or a happy dance / what’s the difference anyways, does it really matter”. A first verse coming live from those dark days, where everything feels heavier than it should, and I’m on my phone googling “does the remote from Click (2006) exist and can I use it please?”. A cheeky lyric is the icing on the cake, and we’re launched into the chorus. The band at full force, tasteful drum fills rounding out the edges, a subtle guitar lead giving the narrator another shoulder to lean on. Not that she needs one, the vocals SHINE here, humble in their beauty. Casually showing off impressive range, effortlessly offering a great tone regardless of where the melody takes them. Everything meshes just right in this moment, the guitar and bass matching the emotional heft of it all too.
It opens up back to the second verse, and grab the tissues, this is where I start absolutely bawling, “It’s embarrassing to say / so I don’t say it at all”.
Lyrics like this remind me why I love music so much (WHICH IS EMBARRASSING TO SAY, ESPECIALLY IF SOFT STREAK IS READING, SORRY!!!). A simple thought that resonates in such a deep way for me, ripped straight out of my brain. Finding connection(?) in that, to feel more human in that, rocks, and gives me a little more courage to speak to those feelings. Being there for others while holding onto your own struggles must feel lonely and even with the subtle background vocals adding texture, you can feel it here. Absolutely dragging me with the lyric about metaphors… moving on… I love the brain freeze line. The verse ends, again, on a lighter note. The style of writing is just what I crave. Sincere, personal, insightful, with a playfulness peeking out to remind us not to take anything too seriously. You can almost hear a smile creeping out - a reminder that the heaviness is temporary. Another chorus just crushes, those tiny pockets of space creating energy and movement, and consider me moved!! Physically (dancing) and emotionally (*crying emoji*!!!!). It’s such a great song and the music video is just fantastic. I cannot wait for the album.
Another Song, but not by Soft Streak
As always, I asked Soft Streak to share a song they thought more people should hear. After much debate, they chose the perfect song:
In their words: It feels like I’ve been listening to this song for my whole life but I’ve only recently discovered how good it really is. It did come as a bit of a shock when I looked up the release date and realized it only came out in February of 2020. Time doesn’t exist anymore, but thankfully this song kept me company during a very long year in which I found myself in a bunch of “listening ruts,” only wanting to hear maybe 5 of the same songs on loop.
That twangy piano part in the intro/bridge is so great and catchy and I love her raspy voice on “oh here I go again, thumbing through stacks of this and that.” What a fun line. What a good song to get stuck in your head!
In mine: Glaspy is one of those artists who I knowwww I would like if I spent more time with, so I was pretty thrilled to check this one out. Her voice is endearing and feels earnest. The ‘me. you.’ section really surprised me, this deviating moment in an otherwise familiar arrangement. Just enough of that Tasteful Palette of 70’s Rock spiced up with more contemporary sounds, energy, and songwriting. The second time it hits, bringing the new chords with it, I realize I could listen to a whole song of just this section. A lovely tune beyond that too, an infectious riff and relatable message. A great pick I’m glad to share!
That’s it for today, but before we go, please:
And send this dang newsletter to anyone else who needs to hear them (in my opinion every person on the planet, but I realize that’s a lot to ask)
A huge thank you to Soft Streak for the performance, and a huge thank you to you(!!) for reading and listening and just being you :)
See you on Monday,
Max