Maggie Hopp is the artist and musician at the center of Raw Honey, and her single “The Key” is set to come out on Friday, March 20th. The song emits a well-crafted pop melody that goes down easy, living up to the bandname, but the introspective lyrics warrant savoring over time. Against this catchy melodic backdrop, the artist effectively “excavates her traumatic upbringing,” parsing through the mess of her emotional history to create an oddly clear rumination that’s resolute and vulnerable.” She has lived all over, including in Michigan, South Korea, and China, and this journey reveals an artist who, in her own words, “took off running” presumably to process this trauma, but it would appear to be this same journey that results in an infectious pop sound that packs just enough levity to take on this history of inter-generational trauma and pain.
Drawing on help from Fred Thomas of Saturday Looks Good to Me and Juliano Bitonti of Verlaine and Vega, the project sounds a bit like a Jay Som production with Lomelda on vocals. And if that amalgamation does not appeal to you, then–let’s just be honest–you and I live in two completely disparate musical worlds. Hopp sings, “I’ve been listening/ to the signs/ you talk to me/ through the wind chimes.” What a suggestive metaphor for this intergenerational communique, one in which the weight of the past passes through time, creating music in an inanimate object. The chorus evokes the metaphorical “key” in the title, underscoring that Raw Honey is an evolving project that has accumulated considerable experience and wisdom over the years. Both are on full display in this short but brilliant single.
Written by SilenceKid
