Band Of The Week #191 - Maida Rose
This week’s Band of the Week is Dutch dream-pop duo Maida Rose, who have just released their debut album ‘Tales Of Adolescence’.
Inspired by the duo's personal experiences of heartaches and sorrows in their formative years, Tales of Adolescence shimmers with luscious instrumentation and delicate vulnerability, recalling Beach House's In Bloom, and Cigarettes After Sex.
They took a moment to talk to us about how the album came together.
Hey there Maida Rose, how are you? So your album is out now, how does it feel to have it out there in the world?
It feels surreal! We started writing these songs six years ago, so we’re really happy that we can finally share them with the world. Thankfully, we’re not in lockdown anymore, so we actually have the opportunity to celebrate this occasion with a release show in our hometown The Hague. We can’t wait to perform these songs live and to see the audience respond to our music.
It is called ‘Tales of Adolescence’ - what is the meaning behind that?
We’ve written all the songs over five years time, in a period where we were both in the phase between being a teenager and feeling like a proper adult. We shared many experiences of growing up with each other, and turned these into songs. We wrote the entire album in the attic of Javièr’s childhood home, which was still decorated in the same way as when he was a teenager. All these elements together influenced the album in such a way, that we decided to process this in the title. ‘Tales of Adolescence’ came to us one day and never left us.
Where was it recorded? Any behind the scenes stories you are happy to share with us?
We planned on recording our first single, ‘Harmony of Heartache’, in April 2020. Since we were unexpectedly in lockdown during that time, we decided to do an experiment and see if we could all record our parts at home. We did, and started mixing with two good friends of ours. In the end, we were so happy with the end result, that we decided to record our whole album like this. So every part is recorded at the home of the musician who is playing it. The drums were even recorded in the same attic as where we wrote the album, since Javièr’s younger brother is our drummer and they shared that attic during their childhood. We recorded the album in batches; every two months we would record and mix another three songs. Therefore, we finished mixing in January 2021, even though we already started the first recording session in April 2020. This way, we had the opportunity to really focus on a couple of songs each time, and delve deep into the recording and mixing process.
Because we all recorded at home, we did spend quite some extra time in the mixing process to make sure everything sounded good. But it was definitely a great way to spend the lockdowns and in the end it was essential to how we developed the music.
What are the key themes and influences on the album?
The themes are all related to our final years of adolescence; the songs tell stories of heartbreak, of depression, but also of longing for adventure. Since we are best friends, we felt the space to share really deep and sometimes dark emotions with each other, which gives a special intimacy to the music. We also shared admiration for similar bands when we just started Maida Rose. We used to listen to bands like Tame Impala, Melody’s Echo Chamber and Temples all the time, which has probably made a way into the music. Lyric wise, I also like to take inspiration from books. There are some references in the lyrics to a few of my favourite writers; William Blake, Haruki Murakami, Alessandro Barrico and Herman Hesse. I love creating lyrics with multiple layers; those that have deeper meaning and that carry hidden beauty. In our lyrics, there’s always a little box of symbolism that’s still waiting to be discovered by the attentive listener.
Do you have a favourite lyric on the album? If so, which one and why?
Roos: My favourite lyric is basically the complete lyric of ‘Fallen’. When writing that song, I somehow had the melody and chords really quickly but I couldn’t figure the lyrics out. I knew the theme, the message, but just didn’t manage to make it work. I then went for a walk and read a beautiful poem by William Blake, called ‘The Little Girl Lost’. To sparkle my creativity, I decided to take four sentences out of this poem, and use these sentences as the first line in each of my verses. The moment I did this, it felt like my creativity was back and the rest of the lyrics went really quickly. Maybe it’s because of this memory that I love it so much, or maybe it is because ‘Fallen’ is one of the most poetic songs of the album. The lyrics really capture how I felt and can still feel when reminiscing about my previous relationship, which is something that’s very dear to me.
If I had to choose, my favorite part will be the two first verses from ‘Fallen’:
‘Seven summers old
We weren’t made for autumn’s gold
Does it get easier with time to understand?
Let the moon arise
While I am dreaming of your eyes
Hope it gets easier with time to understand’
Javièr: One of my favourite lyrics from the album is ‘Life goes on, I guess I should follow but I don’t’, from ‘I Remember’. For me this line perfectly summarizes the feeling of fresh heartbreak. Seeing everything around you get on like normal while you’re suffering from a break up, and holding on to your ex although you know you have to let go, is a very surreal feeling. I think Roos did a very good job in catching that emotion with this lyric.
If your album could be the soundtrack to any film - which would it be and why?
It is one of our biggest dreams ever to become the soundtrack to a film; we both feel like our music would be such a good fit to movies/series. I think ‘Tales of Adolescence’ will probably fit well with an arthouse coming-of-age film. I can definitely imagine our music to be the soundtrack for ‘Donnie Darko’, which is one of my favourite movies ever, although our second album (which we’ve already started recording) would be an even better fit since it is more dark and mysterious.
Now the album is out there - what next?
We’re celebrating with a release tour through the Netherlands and Belgium. Something we are very excited about since covid made it impossible for us to perform live before. In summer, we hope to play some lovely festivals, and in fall we’ll probably do some more shows as well. In the mean time, we’ve already started recording our second album. Last spring, Javièr and I drove up to a cabin in a tiny French village, and spent ten days writing our new album. And last month we’ve started the recording process. So there’s lots more to come!
