“Everybody’s going crazy / See them walking down the street” croons Maggie Rogers as she opens her new album “Don’t Forget Me” with an existential twist. Right away, the indie singer-songwriter implores listeners to take a look around their own lives, wherever they are. In just this line, the record’s purpose of capturing a snippet of Rogers as she grows from an unsure college student to fully-fledged music superstar comes into focus.
This record is Rogers at her best, leading listeners into a soundscape of her development as an artist. From the ruminations on growing older that echo through the acoustic title track to the heartbreaking musings on love conveyed through the piano in “I Still Do,” listeners get a close look at Rogers’ life through her work.
The album largely hinges on experiencing a complicated relationship with love itself. Rogers explores the dread that comes with break-ups, failed relationships and mishaps along the road, diving into her own headspace and explaining that she’s “Drunk/Not drinking/Caught in wishful thinking” to her audience. She reasons to listeners as if they are across a booth from her at a dive bar, hearing her out on yet another wild first-date story or her lingering pain from a recent romance.
Rogers’ musing on the deeply personal aspects of her life has served as her trademark since her debut studio album, “Heard It in A Past Life.” The album spoke on her experiences at a National Outdoor Leadership School course, sparking Pharrell Williams’ emotional reaction and support. Rogers intertwined imagery of the lush scenery with the emotional pain of a failed relationship. Enchanted audiences helped her debut certify as gold.
On “Don’t Forget Me,” Rogers’ lyrics truly shine through, and her journey from Williams’ unofficial certification to becoming a role model for future generations of artists comes full circle. Echoes of famed singer-songwriters like Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell, whom Rogers has cited as inspirations, linger throughout the record.
Outside of her lyrics, Rogers unites diverse instruments under a cohesive sound in her newest work. Since Heard It, her records have become more intimate, foregoing the more electronic and pop-influenced sound of her debut for a folksy rawness. With this, she has carved out a unique niche as a master of the technical aspects of music, but also one that appeals to the masses as a relatable, personal artist.
The cutback in experimentation on “Don’t Forget Me” has its slight drawbacks. At times, the acoustics meld into each other, making each song less unique. This takes away from the listening experience of the record as a whole, with its theme becoming slightly muddled as the music itself blends together.
With that being said, the album mostly holds up as an original work and a step toward the greats whom Rogers emulates. In the era of 15-second TikTok hits, AI covers and endless remixes of existing songs, music that speaks to a musician’s true self in a meaningful way often evades the average listener. To any music fan, predisposed to the genres Rogers explores or not, “Don’t Forget Me” comes as a breath of fresh air.
Rating: 4.5/5