Recommended Tracks: “Want Want”, “Begging For Rain”, “I’ve Got a Friend”
Artists You May Like: HAIM, Julia Jacklin, Samia
Maggie Rogers is giving in to it all. To surrender is to feel it all – joy, rage, and everything in between. Maggie’s debut album, Heard It In A Past Life, only took a couple of weeks to create. However, her sophomore album, Surrender, took a couple of years. Maggie started the song-writing process for Surrender while she was living in Maine with her family; there, she wrote nearly 100 songs, including the album’s second single, “Want Want,” which she wrote and produced with Del Water Gap. Surrender came to life when Maggie returned to Electric Lady Studios in New York. She co-produced the album with Kid Harpoon, the UK-based artist and producer known for his work with Harry Styles and Florence Welch.
Surrender dares to feel. The opening tracks, “Overdrive,” “That’s Where I Am,” and “Want Want,” are incredibly cathartic, almost tearing at the seams. “Overdrive” and “That’s Where I Am” build to the explosive “Want Want.” In an Instagram post, Maggie wrote that “Want Want” is a song about the “power of prioritizing pleasure.” She sings, “But I didn’t want to admit / That when we’re cheek to cheek / I feel it in my teeth / And it’s too good to resist.” (I wonder if she was inspired by Cage The Elephant‘s song, “Teeth.”) There is a unique intensity throughout Surrender; at times, it is difficult to discern between joy and rage. Maggie has referred to this emotion as ‘feral joy,’ which happens to be the name of her upcoming tour.
Maggie’s vocals are remarkable throughout Surrender. On “Shatter,” her vocals have an edge, as if she’s spinning out of control. She sings, “I don’t really care if it nearly kills me / I’d give you the world if you asked me to / I could break a glass just to watch it shatter / I’d do anything just to feel with you.” She has the powerful ability to convey raw emotion, and not only on a cut-throat song like “Shatter.” “Shatter” is followed by “Begging For Rain,” a softer yet equally emotive song. Maggie sings, “I feel it all and I can’t stop it.” If the first half of Surrender is a sprint, “Begging For Rain” is an exhaustion-induced collapse, and it is one of the most vulnerable moments on the album.
Side A of Surrender is a force to be reckoned with, however, there are a couple of hidden gems on Side B, including “I’ve Got a Friend.” Surrender desperately needed “I’ve Got a Friend”; this song is fun! The captured commentary during the intro and outro from Maggie’s friends and fellow artists, Clairo and Claud, adds a charm to the already endearing track. The album closes with “Different Kind of World,” which may be considered Maggie Rogers‘ “Fine Line.” (Kid Harpoon has done it again!) Here, Maggie plans on a future with potential. She sings, “I’ll write a song / And know that it’s for you / That new friend I haven’t met yet / With a different point of view.”
Keep up with Maggie Rogers: The Feral Joy Tour // Instagram // Twitter // Website
