the masquerade - Mxmtoon

Imagine laying in bed with the sunlight peering through your windows and birds are chirping outside. Because, mxmtoon puts you in that mood and replicates a refreshing spring day spent lazy in your room. Afterall, it's a mixture of melancholy indie, lo-fi beats, and heartfelt lyrics that create this calm yet somber album, the masquerade.

Maia (aka mxmtoon) began secretly sharing her music online without her parents knowing. "I was just so terrified of my family finding out," she told NPR. "The internet, at that point, allowed me to have this space where I could create my own story and exist and be something other than what I felt like I was stuck as in my day-to-day life...So, I sit my room, take a really deep breath, open the door and walk out to the kitchen. I say, 'Mom, Dad, I have to tell you something." With NME, she said YouTube “was more of an outlet for me as opposed to a stepping stone towards a greater goal. I just had a lot to say and thought I could use YouTube to scream it into the void.”

Maia's debut album sounds like an honest messages to herself. In her interview with NPR, she explained "So much of the themes and the topics of this album are just about, you know, being a teenager and being in that space where you have literally no clue who you are...You're trying to figure it out. You don't know what your story is and how that's perfectly fine and OK." Her lyrics are relatable, genuine, and intimate. "I can be there for them to make songs about my own experiences and hope that it resonates with them, but I’m just learning about myself as much as they are. I want to be a comforting voice among the chaos," she explained to NME.

Opening with Maia's honeyed vocals and soft lofi beats is unspoken words. It's mellow, soothing, and hopes to convey the love she feel for someone close to her. In the behind the scenes recording of her music video, she explained, "I wrote this song about my relationship with my own grandmother, and how it’s often times hard to take your family members, and fully understand their experience and the hardship that they’ve gone through to get to where they are, and how saying the words “i love you” can be a really validating experience that’s so important, even if it’s really difficult to do sometimes."

The next song is prom dress; a chill, bedroom pop track with ukulele chords. Although prom dress is sweet and peaceful, the lyrics are about experiencing depressing feelings: "I'm sitting here, crying in my prom dress // I'd be the prom queen if crying was a contest." Maia also talks about being a "people pleaser" and the fear of showing her negative side: "I keep collections of masks upon my wall // To try and stop myself from revealing it all // Affecting others is the last thing I would do."

The acoustic, flowing indie sound of suffice is followed by blame game, which is both mellifluous and sorrowful. She sings, "I couldn't bear to think of the thought // That you'd up and leave me to be so distraught // And I heard // You say your goodbye."

Each song balances soft, delicate vocals with gloomy and pensive lyrics that are simple and honest. Overall, the framework isn't complex or embellished. Songs like my ted talk, late nights, and dream of you feels like a best friend singing a lullaby to you.

The Masquerade is laid-back and a bit vanilla as each song parallels each other. But, this isn't supposed to be a dance club tracklist, it's relaxing and cozy album that captures the artist’s angelic voice. It's in your feelings and relays a personal message that everyone experiences similar troubles. Listen to the album here: https://open.spotify.com/album/5mNk0mLiGcJHLGiT0mjHmX?si=nW0Ec3q4QKyLTQTTX8mqJw