Surrender seems like an appropriate title for Maggie Rogers’ sophomore album, if not six years too late, given the music world did exactly that in 2016 after her viral performance of ‘Alaska’ brought musical powerhouse Pharrel Williams to tears. Now three years after her debut album ‘Heard it in a Past Life’ provided Rogers with her first Grammy nomination, she makes her triumphant return with Surrender, to be released via Capitol Records 29 July.
The musical evolution of Rogers’ sound feels both welcoming yet unexpected, with her latest effort proving a significant deviation from the style of her folk-pop infused debut, at least sonically if not lyrically. Upon the release of the album’s lead single ‘That’s Where I Am’, Rogers stated that she “thought it could be fun to make something that sounded like it could run in the end credits of a romcom”. Whilst the single could in fact find its place at the tail end of The Devil Wears Prada, the album as an entity transcends such niche categorisation. Investing in feelings of both the lost and the lustful,Surrender reads like a love letter to the intensity of youthful emotion as Rogers moves steadily toward her 30s.
Opening track ‘Overdrive’ sets the bar at a solid position, yet is careful not to peak as the album’s most intense experience. Opening with a piano/guitar combination that evokes the opening of a road trip movie such as Thelma & Louise, Rogers speaks of feelings so intense for her lover that she can’t handle it, and it is this frankness that leaks candidly into the following tracks. With the aforementioned ‘That’s Where I Am’, Rogers speaks of a love that was never reciprocated, yet juxtaposes her experience alongside the refrain that “it all works out in the end” and the genius realisation that even “boulders turn into sand”. Such wisdom that even the worst experiences are often filtered out by life’s events is a rare find in an artist so young.
With the third track ‘Want Want’, Rogers trades wisdom for yearning as she lays out the complicated yet addictive nature of forbidden lust between friends. Shunning both thought and logic, Rogers is brilliantly unabashed in her sexual demands, although struggles to balance both confidence and arrogance as the production proves overwhelming and repetitive. However, such failings are made up for as the album continues, with ‘Anywhere With You’ well and truly seeing Rogers surrender control both lyrically and vocally. Screaming she is going to “lose her mind, gonna lose it with you”, this commitment to the genuine, if not unhealthy, devotion many of us feel for an individual accompanied by some of her strongest vocals to date allow the listener to let go alongside Rogers as she expresses raw emotion akin to that of Fiona Apple’s earlier releases.
‘Horses’, the album’s fifth track, is a yet another brutally honest statement if not cliched reprieve. Wishing she could feel the same as the horses that run wild, Rogers echoes Nelly Furtado’s ‘I’m Like a Bird’ to lesser success yet allows the listener a break as she moves into what is easily the album’s highlight track, ‘Be Cool’. Speaking of a lover that tells her to simply live in the moment and allow things to happen around you, Roger’s references both friendship and Britney Spears, pulling you back to a teenage world where your biggest concern is whether you’re liked by the kids in your class. Rogers manages to bookend such pure experiences without ever condescending them, and it is this balance she expresses throughout the second half of the album. With the 80s synth-infused ‘Shatter’ Rogers exclaims that she doesn’t “really care if it nearly kills me” and it is this careless nature bottled into the carefully contained 12 track album that makes Surrender a truly impressive follow up.
Closing with the Joni Mitchell-esque ‘Different Kind Of World’, Rogers speaks of listening to those around us, and it is in this open-mindedness that Surrender truly succeeds. Whilst areas of the album feature such strong production that Rogers vocals risk being drowned out by the surrounding noise, it is her honesty and sincerity that carries the album into greatness and solidifies it as one of the most confident and endearing albums of the year so far.
Words by Ben Carpenter
Support The Indiependent
We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. This includes our ‘Writer of the Month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team.