Buzzing Daily

William Maxwell - Dead Plants

Though also a member of the Austin-based project The Oysters, William Maxwell’s solo act allows for a deeper, more vulnerable connection to the artist. Maxwell’s latest album, It’s Been Here Changing for a Long Time, is no exception. Released with a 24-page art booklet, in all,the album is a multi-media exploration of self-expression.

“Dead Plants” is a perfect example of his talent and candor. Drawn in by the lively guitar, you quickly find yourself wrapped up in the story of the lyrics. You find regrets lingering like a bicycle still tied to a tree, apologies spilling out like water in a cab. “I guess when you’ve done so much crying,” he sings as a buoyant guitar carries through, sometimes all you can do is “sit back and laugh.”

There’s something just so raw and unexpected about the last lines: “I’ll do anything just to try to get you back / When you’re gone for the weekend, I’ll still water your dead plants.” It’s clever and modest, but it punches you right in the gut—a William Maxwell specialty. Photo by Mireille Blond.

— Monica Hand on May 4, 2021

Samantha Crain - Malachi, Goodbye

This week, Choctaw singer/songwriter, musician and producer Samantha Crain takes us on an intimate walkthrough of her newest EP, I Guess We Live Here Now. Follow along as she discusses the meaning of each track and her journey crafting them. Photo by Dylan Johnson.

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This is a pretty straightforward kiss-off song. Rarely do we possess the ability to have such clarity and assuredness in a situation, let alone in a relationship, but the relief that can come when we do find and express that certainty is encompassing. Though we don’t always find the strength to access it, it is truly empowering to find that we have an overwhelming amount of bridle over our timeline and decisions. — Samantha Crain

— on April 15, 2021

Moon Hound - Persephone

The days are growing longer, the sun is shining a little brighter, and, according to the Ancient Greeks, the goddess Persephone has successfully returned from her annual six-month residency in the underworld. Spring is here, and Ridgewood, Queens-based band Moon Hound has released their debut single, named for the chthonic queen herself, “Persephone." Bright sounds of chimes, hand drums and a few plunks of a palm-muted guitar welcome the listener to the track before singer Ian McNally enters, offering machinations on the myth of the song’s namesake. Right around the halfway point, the guitars begin to soar, the drums get a whole lot bigger and the bouncy melody expands into a true rock and roll hook. With graceful and captivating transitions throughout the song, Moon Hound cleverly pays homage to the myth’s theme of transformation. This track is a perfect springtime jam to welcome Persephone back to the world of the living. Photo by Sara Laufer.

— Emerson Obus on April 15, 2021

Samantha Crain - There Is No Mail Today

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I started writing this song, initially, to channel my feelings about being stuck in and around my house quite a lot during the pandemic quarantine and ongoing social distancing. It journeys through my evolution from feeling isolated to feeling peaceful and unconstrained. It mirrors, in many ways, the age-old trick of “looking at the bright side of things”. To have no mail could be seen as being forgotten or feeling unproductive, or it could be seen as being left alone, being gifted a bit of freedom. My goal, increasingly in life, is to keep getting better at turning each thing over and over in the hands of my mind and heart to see each side, to see each truth, and hold it all at the same time, and choose the one that brings me armistice. — Samantha Crain

— on April 14, 2021

Billy! - Palmetto

“Palmetto,” simply put, is a love song. It’s a song of honesty and companionship. But it isn’t a love song written for a beloved, it’s for a friendship. Lyrically and sonically, the arrangement captures the product of surrounding yourself with friends who love and understand you like family. Confronting the hardships of growing up alongside these loved ones, Billy! sings, "We drove around here / 'Til holes were in our tires and our jeans / They can't relate much / To the things that me and you have seen." Billy!’s southern Birmingham roots mixed with DIY Nashville influence shine to craft a modern alt-country masterpiece laced with the comfort of home. Written on his little sister’s bedroom floor at the peak of summer, the song didn’t take much time to write. Billy! exclaimed, “I really wanted to make a guitar part reminiscent of an Irish folk ballad, and had never really experimented with open tunings or anything like that, but when I sat down to write, it all came very naturally!”

Echoes of glass slides on the guitar, warm trumpets, sweet harmonies and knocks and picks on the acoustic provide for a full sound and an organic flow. As Billy! repeats, “Go to sleep my brother / I miss you so much / when you wake up in the morning / the glory days will have begun,” a steady instrumental build-up emphasizes his optimism for days to come. Not only are we in awe of the instrumentation, but it’s the hidden memos that make the song so captivating. Friend-filled choirs, sounds of roommates washing dishes, cats sneezing and distant joyful giggling add to the thoroughness of the song. At just 20 years old, Billy!’s first release is the product of years of growing a supportive community. Despite “Palmetto” being an early single, Billy!’s iteration of persistence through hard times is mature, personable and detailed. Photo by Keely Caulder.

— Keely Caulder on April 14, 2021

Gracie Gray - alienlover

Tinkering in with soft, muted keys and the far-away voice of her brother, LA-based Gracie Gray’s new single “alienlover” encapsulates the otherworldly. This track materialized from a dream she had where she heard her own voice amidst her sleep. “alienlover” is a pristine example of what happens when we listen in carefully to the worlds that we live in when we are not awake. Barreling in with grace, a distorted electric guitar draws the listener into the foreground of a dream landscape wherein love between an earthly woman and an alien cannot exist. Gray’s voice rolls over iterations of itself, “I’ll love someone else instead.” Photo by Cashmere Studio.

— Laney Esper on April 14, 2021

Samantha Crain - Bloomsday

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This song is an anthem of sorts about the possibility of each new, seemingly meandering and unimportant day. I use the reference to Bloomsday, born from James Joyce’s “Ulysses”, as a substitute for any day, just a normal, nothing special, any day. The song is meant to inspire the agency we have over our participation in any day. Although it feels like much of the time we are being pulled along in life, we have the instrumentality to find within us light and belief. — Samantha Crain

— Ysabella Monton on April 13, 2021

Shayla McDaniel - Let Me Breathe (How To Break Our Hearts)

A delicate guitar descends as a robust beat kicks in, echoing the complex sentiments of Shayla McDaniel’s latest single “Let Me Breathe (How To Break Our Hearts).” The Knoxville, Tennessee-based artist’s solemn vocals open with unsure musings on the state of her relationship, seemingly having one foot in and one foot out. As a driving beat (written by Deep Sea Diver’s Peter Mansen) goes on and a bright electric guitar strums in, you can feel McDaniel’s disorienting emotions.

A delay-filled arpeggiated guitar is introduced just as McDaniel's thought process starts to disentangle. It becomes more tenacious as she grows more self-assured, peeling the veil to recognize the actual nature of her relationship: “We’re living in a nightmare of a dream / You’re stealing all I have left of me.”

This all comes to a definite realization when the chorus sweeps in. The drumbeat opens up, triumphant horns make their way in the background and McDaniel’s voice swells lively in the front and center, leaving us with a painstaking question: “I don’t need you / You don’t need me / Why do we keep doing these things?” She invites us to look deeply and evaluate: are the relationships we are in actually nurturing, or instead have they become something unhealthy that we only hold on to out of habit? Photo by Shayla McDaniel.

— James Ramos on April 13, 2021

Dafna - Sweeter

John Casey held Emily Franklin in his skinny arms atop of the park near their neighborhood. John was home for the weekend visiting his parents, but they were still asleep at the crack of dawn, which is when John sent Emily an iMessage from outside her front door just a house down, asking if she was ready. The truth was that Emily had never been more prepared than she was at that moment, well-rested on account of going to bed by 9 PM the night before, giddy with anticipation. A long Saturday with family could wait. With their young beating hearts in tow, they strolled to the park, listened to the birds chirping. “You make me feel sweeter, like I’m no longer a burden,” Emily said after a silence that peacetime in 1940 couldn’t hold a flame to. John didn’t speak but held her even closer as they watched the sunrise. “But it makes me feel weaker when you hold me,” Emily finished. John felt one or two of Emily’s tears splash upon his right wrist as they trickled down and off her face before he asked Emily if he could play a new song he liked: “Sweeter” by the artist Dafna. Photo by Jivan West.

— Mustafa Abubaker on April 9, 2021

GOLDEN - Never Too Late

GOLDEN's "Never Too Late" is tender, intimate and sprinkled with optimism. Warm keys welcome you into the track, and Bailey Cooke’s melodic voice rises from the depths not long after. Harmonies pour out like ripples in a pond where you see your reflection for the first time in who knows how long. The lyrics look self-destructive habits in the face, caress their cheek and say, “It’s never too late to find a way out"—no judgment, just a gentle reminder that there are lighter things out there for you. Suddenly invigorated, the second verse grips your hand and takes off running. Percussion that snuck in without you noticing like motivation after months of numbness. Everything clicks into place. If you want out (and you really do) it’s never too late to find the way. And it’s never too early to start looking, either. Photo by Kevin Condon.

— Allison Hill on April 9, 2021

Ziggy Alberts - getting low

Doubt and emotional fatigue can become a burden when coupled with something as unsettling as prolonged loneliness, whether that comes by choice or not. With rushes of acoustic percussion and gentle inquisition, each second of Ziggy Alberts' "getting low" illustrates the feeling of becoming distant from purpose. Just one of the twelve intimate tracks featured on Alberts’ latest record searching for freedom, “getting low” moves through a story of idle longing into a place of delicate self-affirmation. The body of the track incorporates soft, elegant harmonies that work to bring a sense of warmth to its patient and sincere lyrics. Before diving into a dynamic outro, the song poetically fixates on how solitude can impact intimate connections, professing that “nothing makes me feel alone like when I can't see the difference in being with someone and somebody.” An outpour of trumpets and strings emphasizes Alberts' lyrical affirmations as the song moves towards closure, creating an immersive sonic landscape of elevated potential, laced with bravery, strength and hope. Albert's delves into the complexity behind a developing relationship with self-love on his exploratory seventh record, and akin to the other impassioned tracks in this collection, “getting low” chooses persistence when faced with imminent seclusion. Photo by Janneke Storm.

— Jenna Andreozzi on April 8, 2021