July 29, 2022

Capitol Records

1xLP (Standard Black Vinyl, Indie Exclusive Ltd. Edition Tangerine Orange Vinyl)

Maggie Rogers has been busy since her 2019 debut, Heard It In A Past Life. Following a world tour, a Grammy nomination, and the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, Rogers hit the books and enrolled in Harvard Divinity school as a masters student. Brushing shoulders with scholars and musicians of the highest repute in the ivory tower and on the red carpet gave Rogers plenty to think about as she composed her most recent project, Surrender. Thematically and stylistically ambitious, the album soars to transcendent heights, as on the opening track Overdrive or the powerful Honey, while hitting a softer register on the spiritual (Begging For Rain), or the melancholy (Different Kind of World). Rogers wrestles with the high and the low; between the relationship between the artist, the listener and the religious, and steamy references to Rob Pattinson; everything is endowed with a sense of the confessional. Ultimately Rogers leaves us with an idea of her quest for authenticity and honesty, as finally we are left with a refrain to chew on, “Though we all may carry on / May we do so decently.”