To: Adam
Love: Dave
Date Sent: 7/14/2020
Maggie Rogers – Heard It In A Past Life
Release Date: January 18th, 2019
I know that we have already shared our own #MaggieMoment when I dominated you in some quarantine chess over what is now a month ago now, but we needed this album to get on this list. Originally, I had heard a few of her songs on a Today’s Hits playlist on Spotify and thought immediately that I may have a future with this woman. A future that includes me playing her album on repeat for weeks until my kids forget about the existence of that damn white whale that Raffi subjugated the world to. But I digress.
Initially, I am skeptical of Give A Little. It runs on a bit and is certainly repetitive, scaring me to think that I may have been wrong about Maggie. But as we know, I am never wrong and the rest of the album confirms this absolute truth. The hits like The Knife, Burning, and Light On are absolutely amazing to listen to, for all ages, really. But I believe she separates herself from mainstream pop music with songs like Overnight, Retrograde, Fallingwater, and Alaska. That last track, of course, is the song that she plays for Pharrell in that awkwardly staged video in the studio that I hope is not how all artists have to get their music heard by producers: “You may be able to get pick up by his record label, but you have to sit next to him, like directly next to him, while we play your song IN ITS ENTIRETY and we film his initial reaction, which could derail your entire sense of self. Do we have a deal?”
Although this album came out in 2019, 2020 needs this album. We all do. It is such a perfectly crafted album with certifiable hits to dance to, soft songs that give you all the feels, and songs that provide motivational lyrics for all of us to scream into the abyss that is the year 2020. For instance, “COME OUT OF THE DARKNESS!” or “YOU MUST BE SO HAPPY NOW!” I just got chills typing those words. Finding artists and albums like this is what keeps a brother moving and is really why we kind of do these emails. This is a gem that separates from the crowd and shows how powerful music can be. I really cannot wait for her follow-up album.
Adam’s Reaction:
I think you’ve said all that I could say on the topic of Maggie and full-heartedly believe you have even more to share about her, so I will look forward to that the next time that we see each other. She is great and I was surprised to hear initially that she was your cup of tea. But when you branch out past the hits, you really struggle not to groove with her sound. And I would argue that her sneaky songs are better than her hits, because as you mentioned, they separate her from the genre altogether and leave us wanting more. So much more Maggie!
The Favorites
Adam: Overnight
Dave: Retrograde