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Nashville-based alternative pop artist-Maggie Miles is flipping the subgenre on its head by fearlessly revealing grappling life experiences set to electric production. Maggie’s lyrics reflect the most personal corners of her mind. This vulnerability drives her anticipated sophomore album, The Lack Thereof.

Out May 17th via Warehouse West Entertainment/BMG Rights Management, The Lack Thereof exudes freedom. Maggie breaks her mental chains and excitedly runs wild as she redefines her relationship with God and overcomes a deeply personal crisis. She wants to make it clear that this journey is specific to her, but hopes that listeners can find their own stories within the lyrics. The album’s themes call back to a 16-year-old Maggie as she discovered acts like Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Alice In Chains, and Twenty One Pilots while also dealing with mental health and finding out who she was both through music and faith. The album’s cover, taken at age 18 while on a car ride with friends through the Appalachian Mountains, reflects this turning point in Maggie’s life.

The album title’s meaning is poignant: “Around late 2020, I had a dream in the middle of the night and I saw this house,” Maggie explains. “I woke up at 3 a.m. and the phrase ‘faith, or the lack thereof’ was in my head. I opened up my journal and wrote it down. For some bizarre reason, I knew as I wrote down: ‘This is my next record.’”

Maggie’s self-reflection is best heard in The Lack Thereof’s single, “Asthma”. A sonic whirlwind, the blood-rushing production changes between pop-leaning piano melodies to crashing drums, raw industrial synths and grungy electric guitar riffs. Maggie’s pleading vocals take the track to emotive heights as she tries to catch her breath. “I'm pretty sure I learned my lesson,” she utters. “I can tell, 'cause I feel different.”

Other album highlights include the anthemic new single “Momentum”. The album’s most triumphant moment, it finds Maggie pushing herself through self-doubt. “I'm alone, but I know that I'll grow when I keep on putting on the pressure to change. I know it sounds easy, but I'm the only one that's in the way,” she sings over a swelling, ‘90s rock-inspired production.

The Lack Thereof picks up where Maggie’s debut album Am I Drowning or Am I Just Learning to Swim left off. Released in 2020, the record is overall cleaner-sounding but teases what was to come for Maggie’s experimental sound. But the singer’s story really begins in the church.

She cites age 16 as a pivotal point in her life, where she turned to instruments (predominately the piano) to fulfill what she thought was missing at the time. Her bedroom was in her family’s basement and its often dark, isolating energy is what led to finding her voice and playing around with chords from various songs on her keyboard.

After graduating high school in 2017, Maggie played her first show a year later, opening for a local artist. It was on that stage that she realized that music was truly her calling. A year later, the singer moved to Nashville to further pursue music after a fresh re-entry to the faith she had parted with for the year before. That uncomfortable headspace is what shaped Am I Drowning or Am I Just Learning to Swim as she searched for answers about her life’s meaning.

The Lack Thereof reflects a more confident Maggie but it also hugs the 16-year-old Maggie who was just discovering herself in that cold basement. The album’s easter eggs (the gang vocals on opener “I” and closer “Asleep” featuring her little sister and friends, a room mic that picks up a shaking glass on a desk, and various other sonic textures) call back to that time in the singer’s bedroom.

As Maggie continues to ascend in 2023, her main goal is to provide comfort. “I started writing in my little bedroom in my parents' basement because that was my safe space. Creating something for myself helped me feel less alone,” she explains. “So I’m now sharing that with others in the hopes that they feel less alone when they hear it. It’s a captivating presence that people can be part of.”
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Ryan Wright
         

Shallow Planet