Canadian alt-folk artist Mariel Buckley returns with “Vending Machines,” a raw and restless track that signals a bold new chapter. Stepping into something a little heavier and more vulnerable, she dips her toe into the indie rock, pop and alt-country realm, leaving behind the polished shimmer of synths.
“Vending Machines” is about the blurry moments between chapters and those in-between days that are full of doubt and emotional limbo. Buckley’s velvety vocals, always tinged with melancholy, guide the listener through themes of disconnection, questioning one’s path, and the ache of wanting change without knowing what it looks like. The songwriter shares, “I was genuinely questioning my career, personal life as a result of that career, my distant-feeling relationships with family and friends, and how I could restart after yet another big change. It should feel looping, liminal and never ending, like an endless travel day.”
Featuring jangly acoustics, a driving backbeat, and pedal steel hooks that pull like gravity, Buckley perfectly captures that feeling of being caught in the revolving door of life. Combined with her lyrics, that are cinematic yet precise, the songwriter depicts the existential dread that comes with starting over again (and again).
