In a letter saying her third album, Don’t Neglect Me, singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers says she acquired impressed for her newest venture by making a “youthful Thelma & Louise,” utilizing that storytelling vessel to navigate troublesome private truths of her personal. Such self-exploring wanderlust has been a typical theme for Rogers, an artist who proclaimed “I discovered myself once I was going in all places” on her first LP. This day out, she’s taking a metaphorical highway journey by way of her personal previous as a method of escaping her disconcerting current.
Rogers has been placing out sensible, semi-autobiographical pop since launching her profession in 2016 with a viral second during which she impressed Pharell Williams with a rendition of her track “Alaska” whereas nonetheless a pupil at NYU. Since then, Rogers has tapped into a variety of influences — from the Grateful Lifeless to Britney Spears — as she veered from the eclectic pop of her 2019 debut, Heard It in a Previous Life, to the glossy, futuristic sounds of her sophomore album, Give up. She’s the uncommon twentysomething artist who may appear equally at dwelling taking part in Coachella and the Newport Folks Pageant.
“So Sick of Dreaming,” the second single from Don’t Neglect Me, finds Rogers ambivalent about her irritating actuality; she will get stood up on dates and is pressured to look at her shut buddies stay out existences that “sounds so scary” — getting married and sustaining unfulfilling relationships. On album opener “It Was Coming All Alongside,” the 29-year-old is deep within the existential disaster of somebody “long gone 22,” pining for days of yore.
To take care of the entire disillusionment, Don’t Neglect Me escapes into reminiscence and carefree reflections, generally even the type you study from. On the insistently catchy “The Kill,” she fondly remembers the thrilling early years of a previous relationship with intimate particulars like sharing “indie-rock songs within the automobile” and her associate carrying “recent leather-based.” Equally, “If Now Was Then” is a crushing stroll down reminiscence lane as Rogers takes us by way of the faculty days of that very same relationship and lays naked her regrets. On the piercing ballad “I Nonetheless Do,” Rogers sings in regards to the unvarnished love she as soon as had for an ex, earlier than admitting it’s a sense she will’t let go of.
For such a heavy emotional elevate, the album is an easygoing pay attention, excellent for a Sunday-afternoon drive. Co-produced with Ian Fitchuk (who labored on Kacey Musgraves’ career-defining Golden Hour), Don’t Neglect Me strips away the synth–steeped singer-songwriter manufacturing of Heard It in a Previous Life and the alt-rock experimentation of 2022’s Give up to disclose a country, extra organic-feeling pop-rock sound. Upbeat tracks like “On and On and On” and “By no means Going Dwelling” are completely made for big-voiced singalongs in a manner that brings to thoughts Michelle Department’s early work.
In the meantime, the meditative high-note “All of the Identical” is uncooked and elemental. In opposition to delicate acoustic plucks and soothing piano notes, Rogers croons in regards to the aching passage of time and craves the salve of “yet one more kiss/A second’s bliss from a lover you’ve all the time identified” earlier than posing a young query: “Gained’t you wait?” The sense of unguarded affection completely sums up Don’t Neglect Me. If she will discover that form of happiness, Rogers’ journey is value it.
