Perpetual Angst & Looking For Someone to Love You: Briston Maroney Releases Two New Singles “Oregon” and “Harvard”
By: Allyson J.L. Clayton
Photo: Drew Bauml
“Maizy, if you only knew how / Crazy I was for you / Surely you would let me in.”
One of my favorite things about Briston Maroney is the expert grasp he has on his voice; using it as his own instrument. He could put out the same quality of songs with all of the gorgeous production and backing music, even if he only used his voice. It’s more than just a talent for melodies, harmonies, and the like, it’s throwing it and pulling it back, waiting for the right moment to really let go and lean into where the wave of his voice wants to take him. It’s with the precision of a weathered boat Captain that Briston Maroney steers his voice all over the seas of his storytelling songs.
“Oregon” tells us a tale of young lovers, angsty and confused, trying to figure out where they fit in with each other while simultaneously trying to figure out where they fit in with themselves. This is some straight up "if music be the food of love, play on!" type of stuff. Being alive, let alone being young while also being alive, is so entirely destabilizing. Even with all the love, care, and guidance in the world, we have the awe-inspiring, very human, ability to muck it all up. We hold the weight of the world in the things that we say and it's so easy to let it all get you down. Love is ever changing. Ebbing and flowing, but it is always there waiting for us. Maybe even in Oregon!
“Evelyn / I hate to wake you up again / It’s just that i can't sleep / When any part of me thinks / That you've got doubt on ur mind.”
Another thing I love––that also makes me sob––is starting off a song with such an intense gut punch, such as the beginning of your new favorite song, "Harvard," does. What is love and life if not constant fear of rejection! Harvard is an especially good example of how Briston uses his grasp of the musicality of his voice to tell the story beyond the music and lyrics. I feel like I'm on the roller coaster of emotions with him as he lilts out the chorus,
“So tell me what it is / Won’t you please just tell me what it is / ‘Cuz I know that there's a window to your heart / That i'm not seein’ through / I just gotta find my way in.”
I feel frustrated and lost and hopeful––a full spectrum of emotions just from his voice. Compounded with the effervescent production from Caleb Wright and Jake Luppen of Hippo Campus, this song is so grossly relatable and filled with angst.
These two singles are a gorgeous follow up to "Paradise," Maroney’s most recent single, and it just so happens to be the name of his personally conceived and curated two day festival in Nashville, TN. Fans of Indigo De Souza (which would be me), The Greeting Committee, Sunflower Bean, and more, get your tickets right now! See you there!
