mxmtoon - dawn (2020)

‘dawn’ marks the start of something bolder for mxmtoon. The Oakland teen, who first built up a following as a YouTuber and goes only by Maia (keeping her surname private), has a knack for straight-to-the-hook, unfussy compositions. On her first home-recorded EP ‘plum blossom’ she sang with only a ukulele for company. Gradually, woozier elements have crept in around the edges – musically, she previously sat somewhere between Rex Orange County in super laid-back mode, and the pleasant soundtrack to a fruit cider advert, complete with swinging hammock.

Lush opener ‘fever dream’ sets the scene for the entire release: “I want something more than more than restless mornings,” Maia sings in treated vocals that recall The Japanese House and Imogen Heap in equal measures. The wider world that ‘the masquerade’ merely hinted at is everywhere on ‘dawn’ – cars whizz down the highway like ants, and trains rattle towards new destinations, and as the landscapes flash past, she’s wary of forgetting them. ‘quiet motions’ breathes deeply in, nervous for the years to race by. “Soon it’s twenty years from now,” Maia sings, as if trying to memorise every last snapshot. ‘Almost Home’ meanwhile appears to address the past mxmtoon armed with a new, slightly world-weary knowledge.