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Maia from mxmtoon released her first EP in 2018. She was 18 and recorded it in her bedroom, and self-released it. It went on to be streamed over 100 million times. This year, she put out her second album, Rising. And in this episode, she breaks down her song “Mona Lisa.” She told me about how different it is from the songs she used to write when she was teenager. And how she found something authentic and honest by connecting with a part of herself from even earlier in her life.

You can buy or stream “Mona Lisa” here.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

footnotes
Rosie, co-writer
Pom Pom, producer and co-writer
Luke Niccoli, executive producer (and guitars)
“Disney Princess bird vibes”

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Monica Martin is a singer and songwriter based in Los Angeles. Before that, she was based in Madison, Wisconsin, where she was part of the indie rock band Phox. She’s been a featured guest vocalist on songs by James Blake and Vulfpeck. In this episode, Monica breaks down her song “Go Easy, Kid,” along with the tracks’s producer, Khushi. It’s a pretty meta story, as she talks about making a song that’s in part about how hard it can be to make a song. And more generally, how hard it can be to let go of things we get hung up on.

You can buy or stream “Go Easy, Kid” here.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

footnotes
Theo Katzman
Jacob Jeffries
Jason Goldstein
Matteo Roberts
James Blake
The Caribou, bar
Splice
Fiverr
Portal, plugin
Ásgeir
Carole King
Burt Bacharach
Amar Chadha-Patel

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Maren Morris is a Grammy-winning, multi-platinum artist. She’s also won multiple country music awards, including CMAs for Female Vocalist of the Year, and Single of the Year in 2020, but her feelings about the country music industry are kind of complicated, as she discusses in this episode. She breaks down her song “Humble Quest,” which is the title track from her third album. It was produced by Greg Kurstin, who’s won the Producer of the Year Grammy more than once. The album came out in March, and hit #2 on Billboard country chart. But before “Humble Quest” was a title, Maren had to figure out what the words meant to her, and that’s where the song began.

You can buy or stream “Humble Quest” here.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

footnotes
Jimmy Robbins
Laura Veltz
Rich Hinman
Cardi B
Dua Lipa