Last year may have been an ambitious time to launch a wholly effervescent pop project, but New York-based pop starlet in the making Maisie May tenaciously took that leap and truly spread her wings. At the point in which shimmering alt-pop and pensive indietronica intersect, sits her articulate and fresh take on synth-pop, and in 2021, it gathers further momentum with "Face It," the title track of her debut project.
Having reconnected with her creative rhythm past the fallout of pandemic-induced fatigue, she speaks to the track's inception in an email statement, sharing that, “I first started writing ‘Face It’ after working a night shift at my restaurant job. I had just gotten my job back after being unemployed for months through the pandemic. I was physically tired, but my brain was feeling creative and chaotic. I sat down at my computer and almost immediately recorded the bass line that now shapes 'Face It'."
The sharp chords that introduce the track add extra bite to the already exasperated, and almost scornful lyricism, with her elastic melodies truly revelling in the space between each expertly placed hit. A steadfast rhythm injects a new energy just as you're getting used to the pensive, downtempo aesthetic, and sees her already silky vocal heighten into an enchanting falsetto. Past the chorus, May subverts expections once again with an instrumental passage that utilises the soaring impact of her vocal more as an instrument, with dutiful embellishment from melodious plucks. Taking us through the motions for a second time, the track reaches a dizzying crescendoed conclusion with further layers pulling you further into the soundscape and makes the appeal of the replay button all the more harder to ignore.
Continuing the same statement, May concludes, "Within a few minutes, I had finished writing the first verse and the chorus. Some projects take a really long time to complete, but ‘Face it’ was one of those songs that effortlessly fell into place. It felt like writing this upbeat, empowering song gave me the energy I needed after feeling exhausted for months. It's the first song I've produced that really makes me want to dance which is why I've been ecstatic to release it since the day I put down that bass-line.”
