Maybe the one fixed tying collectively every period of American pop is its tendency to seek out inspiration from the nation’s highways. Mendacity steadily because the nation round them drastically evolves, they’ve concurrently existed as veins tying states collectively and a muse for artists looking for romantic metaphors for freedom, idealism and escape. On ‘America’, Simon & Garfunkel hitchhiked and gazed longingly out of bus home windows in quest of the nation’s identification, whereas Bruce Springsteen has felt the urge the open street since beginning. It’s a uniquely American notion — in spite of everything, few have been compelled to put in writing odes to the M25 (though Olivia Dean did give it a go). So, when delving into her most introspective songwriting but, it is smart that Maggie Rogers, like these earlier than her, has turned to their sweltering tarmac and the lonesome desert landscapes that body them for steering.
Having first discovered acclaim via 2016’s ‘Alaska’ — launched to the world via a viral clip now embedded into web lore — Rogers’ profession to date has typically felt like a grappling to ascertain her sound. Her debut, 2019’s ‘Heard It In A Previous Life’ chronicled her battle to regulate to newfound fame and blended tasteful Euro dance music along with her lifelong fondness for people; it’s follow-up, 2022’s ‘Give up’, marked an pressing, heavier evolution, adopting parts of different rock to seize the claustrophobia and chaos of New York Metropolis.
‘Don’t Overlook Me’, then, gives an perception into the path Rogers’ could have gone in had ‘Alaska’ not plunged her into an intense virality that anticipated her to duplicate the observe’s poppier ideas. Whereas her debut drew criticism for over-production, ‘Don’t Overlook Me’ shines in its simplicity, with Ian Fitchuk (Kacey Musgraves, Stephen Sanchez) as the only collaborator. Right here, via a whole-hearted embrace of the people, nation and Western that underscored her upbringing, Rogers’ appears extra at house than ever.
But, ‘Don’t Overlook Me’ exists as a meticulously crafted homage to the street journey. Rogers attended classes with a really particular aesthetic moodboard: endeavouring to seize the fantastic thing about ephemeral moments with the identical fervour because the grainy Linda McCartney pictures that documented ‘60s pop. Maybe it’s why she offers so closely within the finer particulars, with clothes a key lyrical motif. ‘The Kill’ recollects a lover via the scraps of discarded clothes they left in a hasty exit and ‘By no means Going Dwelling’ has flashbacks within the type of a “jacket the identical color because the seats in your automotive”.
Crucially, although, it’s a document that doesn’t take itself too significantly. ‘So Sick Of Dreaming’ is a celebration of singledom indebted to Shania Twain, each sonically and lyrically (“So that you suppose you’re heading in the right direction/Cruising on the bridge in your gray Cadillac”, she sings with an audible smile). The music’s climax is a intercourse within the city-esque anecdote of being stood up at a steak restaurant by a date who went to see the Knicks as a substitute. They misplaced, by the way in which, she’s certain to declare through a crackly voice observe.
Written and recorded over 5 days in chronological order, the sequencing lends itself to the format of a street journey — a lot in order that at instances it appears able to soundtrack an inevitable Thelma & Louise reboot. There’s the relentless vitality to start (‘Drunk’), existential conversion (‘If Now Was Then’) and sing alongside anthems (‘On & On & On’ and ‘By no means Going Dwelling’) that collapse into quietness following too many miles (‘I Nonetheless Do’).
It’s why the ultimate observe ‘Don’t Overlook Me’ is all of the extra poignant, conjuring the bittersweet feeling of reaching a well-known vacation spot after a protracted drive. As the guarantees of the open street dissolve into familiarity, it’s a return to actual life and a closing acceptance of the inevitability of endings. Having spent a document collating reminiscences with the urgency of somebody attempting to seize flecks of sunshine disappearing within the rearview mirror, it’s a second of vulnerability from Rogers that reveals her want to be remembered with the identical significance – and one which that assures she shall be.
Particulars
- Launch date: April 12, 2024
- Document label: Capitol Information