The artist’s deeply personal and intimate indie-folk sound reaches rousing new heights on her debut LP
Following a range of varied and nuanced releases that have characterised her sound and style since her emergence back in September 2021, Maria Lane has brought her artistic vision to life in its most fully realised form to date with the release of her debut album Black and Blue, a collection of tracks that engulf themes like love, loss and betrayal in powerful and emotionally rousing fashion while continuing to showcase the enduring resonance of her sound.
The album opens with the stirring and sombre ‘on the table’, a track that immediately delves into these themes of heartbreak and loss in devastating and vulnerable fashion, the artist baring her soul among a gorgeous backdrop of strings and intimate instrumentation, setting the tone for a rollercoaster of emotions and feelings.
Betrayal and and the estranged relationship are tackled head on recent single ‘what were our vows for?’, another brutally authentic and raw track that unfolds almost like a confrontational conversation between the artist and the person who wronged her, making you feel as though you’re right there in the wreckage of the relationship and experiencing it with her.
The reflective ’til april’ is a track that finds the artist in more optimistic form, with her indie-folk sound doing a great job of encapsulating the captivating and charming allure of anticipation and looking forward to the future, and making for a cinematic and atmospheric listening experience that you find yourself completely drawn in to.
The searching and expansive ‘lost’ sees the artist continuing to feel as thoughtful and moving as ever, with the artist finding herself metaphorically stranded thanks to the chaos and uncertainty that has been hinted at throughout these tracks and looking to find herself again. Once again, the strings and intricacy of the soundscape makes for wonderfully memorable and captivating listening, something that is something of a theme throughout an album that lulls you into the artist’s world effortlessly.
More relationship hardships are explored in ‘merry go round (carousel)’, with the artist detailing the cyclical nature of her doomed situation and the relatable feeling of just going round in circles and feeling like you’re wasting your time before one of you inevitably decides to get off. So many of the observations about relationships and specifically bad ones are things that feel powerfully realised, and many listeners will relate heavily to the themes and situations explored.
Delving into the relationship with yourself rather than in relationships, tracks like ‘these days’ and ‘thinner’ explores more relatable and resonating territory as it explores things like feeling like life and time are passing you by (‘these days) and living with eating disorders and the toll and impact that this has on you (‘thinner’). These tracks exemplify the personable and poignant appeal that the artist has to an even fuller extent, and her ability to articulate her issues with a sense of clarity and honesty that feels gripping.
A collaboration with Taylor Pearlstein on ‘cool’ makes for some really interesting moments as their vocals overlap and compliment each other to create some really immersive and charming moments, adding another dimension to the artist’s sound while maintaining the powerful and haunting nature that has created such an aura and atmosphere throughout the experience.
As the album draws towards its conclusion there are still more than a fair share of emotional and moving moments, from the nostalgic nature of ‘my past’ and its little interjection of memories and moments from her past, to possibly the album’s most emotional and raw moments that come on ‘when will i stop crying?’, Maria Lane is truly a master at conveying her innermost thoughts and feelings and seamlessly interjecting them into her work, and this album consistently evokes these moods with a harrowing precision.
There are sixteen tracks in total on the album and each one helps to craft this story of somebody trying to put their life together and find their place in the world amidst relationships and other challenges, and as ‘painted a certain color’ descends into a painful refrain of “I thought I knew who I was, but you didn’t think I was enough”, it leaves a lasting and memorable impression to bring this portrait of struggle to end.
