Premiere: Mazie sketches the modern era in savage & scattered light with new EP, ‘omw’

Becoming an adult is a rite of passage. It’s quick and severe, a shape-shifting ghoul which bleeds out of shadows and exacts brutal changes on our lives. Sometimes, those material modifications are poetic and beautiful and stunningly life-affirming; and still others spook up as crushing, necessary and injurious blows. Today’s youth are in an even more unique position, trapped behind screens in ways previous generations never had to witness, and the truth of the matter is, coming of age in the millennium is as harsh an experience as it wondrously bold and enlightened. Pop up and comer Mazie carries her own blood-soaked cross, penning an EP of scratchy synth-pop confessionals, often staggeringly exposed about scavenging through a relationship’s embers, shedding innocence and numbing pain with wit.

“You know that I’ve been on track / Feel it on my bones like that,” she sputters on the zipper-twisted opener “afterglow,” a meditation on bidding adieu to her adolescence. “ghost” then trembles with the angst of jarring dialtones and feeling mental pressure of being ghosted in the digital age, an act of merciless selfishness. The 18-year-old’s vocal slips and hovers much like a specter shaking brittle chains and lingering behind its earthly, long-decomposed form. “me& u” festers on the surface, as she poses questions about a lover’s intentions behind closed doors, and “oh my god” addresses accountability among men for their often gross, overindulgent and compromising pick-ups, leaving her and her friends exasperated, disgusted and downright fed-up. A just bookend, a stylistically folk-soaked groove, “just a friend” frames her vulnerability and oozing confidence, a juxtaposition that’s both clever and remarkably searing. “Why did I say that you could be a friend / You’re on my mind like cigarettes burn / Now, I’m left out in the cold,” she murmurs over angelic, acoustic-rendered chords.

Mazie’s omw EP, now up for pre-order on iTunes, drops tomorrow on MAD Dragon Records as the follow-up to Talk to the Moon, and witnesses a singer, songwriter and musician bursting from a cocoon with ravishing and truly promising song craft. Her musical touch points are scattered, mirroring the instability of her life and navigating a sprouting adulthood. It’s sticky and cohesive but gives her permission to flex her many influences across varied and shaded formats. Her stories are securely tied to long-standing folky, singer-songwriter tradition, and she often burns the lyrics with R&B, hip-hop and lithe, brightly-prismed pop.

Read Mazie’s track-by-track breakdown and listen to the omw EP below:

“afterglow”: Navigating what it means to venture into adulthood and saying goodbye to adolescence. The song, specifically, focuses on what it feels like to want to be more mature and to desire the experiences that are ahead of me. Especially so, since I’m now on her own doing what I want to be doing.

“anybody else”: Hones in on a specific interaction between two young people where they realize that the relationship is neither special nor particularly important to either of them. I focus on the phrase “anybody else” to drive home that the person I’m referring to could be replaced by any other partner and the relationship would retain the same value.

“oh my god”: A catchy, more commercial tune that focuses on my observation of a college boy who is following me and my friends at a party that won’t listen to our rejection of his pursuits. The song is intentionally playful and antagonizing to drive home the point that the boy’s behavior is childish and unrelenting as he is led to believe he’s allowed to behave in this way because “boys will be boys.” The song is intended for a young female audience who have experienced interactions like this before.

“ghost”: Follows a young woman caught in the middle of being “ghosted” and her response to this experience. The song is layered with both female and male voices in order to make it palatable for both young women and men who experience a facet of modern culture where one’s partner stops communicating with them and “ghosts” the other person which, therefore, ends the relationship. The song follows the frustration and pang of hurt that comes along with this superficial ending to a superficial relationship.

“me& u”: A lyrically potent song that follows the stream of consciousness a young person has while navigating love in the modern era. Both a relatable and relevant song, “me& u” intentionally and immediately grabs the listeners attention and quickly conveys the uncertainty, immaturity and questions that a young person has about their partner.

“just a friend”: A catchy, sweet and witty song that focuses on what it means to be “just a friend” when really wanting to be more than that. The song hones in on my balancing between being vulnerable and telling someone how I actually feel while also demonstrating the immaturity of the situation through double entendres and playful lyrics.

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