I’m about to introduce you to your new favorite artist: Maggie Rogers.
Maggie, who’s claim to fame was a viral video where Pharrell Williams listened to her song “Alaska” and immediately fell in love, just released her album Heard It In A Past Life and you can consider me officially obsessed. Now clearly I had seen the viral video but as things go, Maggie and her music fell off my radar until this past Friday. Now I can’t get enough of her.
Admittedly I sometimes struggle with dance music, I find it hard to find the heart in it and I seem to only appreciate it on a surface level. That may very well be more of a me problem than the artist’s problem though. However, it just feels different with Maggie; she grabs the dance music and she layers it with heart and soul, leaving the audience so much better after listening to her music.
So yes, Maggie plays with her sound on this album but she still holds on to the same roots of pop and folk music that left Pharell speechless. Maybe it’s the fact that she finds strength in the vulnerability. Though I’m someone that struggles to navigate around the walls I’ve created for myself, I find the act of being vulnerable absolutely exhilarating.
Whether it be her quick claim to fame or complicated relationships, no topic is off limits for Maggie and that’s where her magic lies. She allows us to completely fall in love with her because when she presents herself, she gives us herself entirely. (My relationship with her music, may just be my most honest relationship … I may have to evaluate some things.)
And every evening, every time
I keep replaying in my mind
And wondering if you do the same
And if it makes you lose your breath
And if it makes you just forget
That all of it’s a bit insane
“Say It”
Her music feels colorful.
It feels like a journey that you would be privileged to take. It feels like a ride you fear will end to soon. Each song is a story worth telling, with each musical note feeling like a beat inside your heart.
Oh, here I am, settled in at your house
Broken blinds keep the light coming out
And I am just the shape I’m in
Ooh, here I am, settled in, crying out
Finding all the things that I can’t do without
Oh, I am giving in
Oh, I’m in retrograde
“Retrograde”
Heard It In A Past Life is a celebration of the heartbreak, of the scary, of the happy, of the anxiety, of the magical and the mystical. I have now listened to the album, from beginning to end, more than ten times and it feels like a breath of fresh air every single time. Maybe my walls have been high for too long, maybe the years of therapy are finally paying off and maybe music really is the answer to all of our problems; but it just feels a little bit easier to breath after listening to Maggie Rogers.
It could be that the strength truly lies in the vulnerability and Maggie may have just helped me find my strength. Heard It In A Past Life is an album worth listening to and this Monday feels like the perfect day for it.
‘Cause people change overnight
Things get strange, but I’m alright
I’m still here, and I’m still high
And I’ll still meet you in the middle of the night
But if you lie to me, lie to me, lie to me
I’m gone
“Overnight”