mxmtoon Announces Debut Album 'the masquerade'
By: Kaitlin Milligan Jun. 27, 2019
The debut album from 18-year-old singer/songwriter mxmtoon, the masquerade delivers what she calls "rhyming diary entries": an off-the-cuff account of her most private thoughts and feelings, usually dashed off very late at night, straight from her brightly lit brain. In her deliberate refusal to hide behind metaphor, the Oakland-based artist otherwise known asMaia achieves a quiet bravery, an unrestrained honesty that gives voice to those who often go unheard.
"When I first started making music it felt like an escape from my day-to-day life, where I'd have to put on a mask to hide what I was really feeling," says Maia in reflecting on the title to the masquerade. "Writing songs was a way to express all the things I couldn't talk about in face-to-face interactions, and share them with a community of people who maybe also needed to put up a façade to get through the day."
Maia has built a remarkable bond with her audience entirely on the strength of her resonant songwriting and unaffected presence. Her debut EP plum blossom which was released in 2018 clocked more than 100 million spotify streams alone, not bad for songs recorded alone in her parents' guest room. In less than a year she is now amassingmillions of followers and subscribers across YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram aloneand Maia has made a point of using her ever-growing platform to speak out on issues close to her heart. "As a young bisexual woman of color from a family of immigrants, a lot of current events directly affect who I am," says Maia, who's mixed Chinese-American. "I firmly believe it's my obligation and opportunity to speak on issues that affect us all."
Today she released a new song for fans titled "high & dry" another excellent track showing depth and vulnerability all at once. It's the second single from the masqueradeand comes off the heels of the instant classic "prom dress" where we see her as a songwriter skillfully offer a layered meditation on expectation and disappointment, blithely showcasing her self-effacing sense of humor. "I wrote that after I ate a Double-Double from In-N-Out and then couldn't fit in my prom dress and started having a panic attack," Maia explains. "I think it's so funny and stupid how when you cry you're supposed to shut yourself off from the world, so I posted a tweet that said 'crying in my prom dress,' and then I made it into a song."
mxmtoon will be hitting the road this fall with most dates already sold out or close to, another remarkable achievement for someone yet to release their debut album. All dates are listed below.
the masquerade Tracklisting:
- unspoken words
- prom dress
- suffice
- blame game
- high & dry
- my ted talk
- seasonal depression
- untitled
- dream of you
- late nights
- unspoken words (acoustic)
- prom dress (acoustic)
- suffice (acoustic)
- blame game (acoustic)
- high & dry (acoustic)
- my ted talk (acoustic)
- seasonal depression (acoustic)
- untitled (acoustic)
- dream of you (acoustic)
- late nights (acoustic)
Tour Dates:
9/19 - Portland, OR @ Holocene SOLD OUT
9/20 - Vancouver, BC @ Rio
9/21 - Seattle, WA @ Crocodile SOLD OUT
9/27 - Los Angeles, CA @ Roxy SOLD OUT
9/28 - Los Angeles, CA @ Roxy
10/1 - Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar
10/2 - San Diego, CA @ Voodoo Room @ House of Blues SOLD OUT
10/4 - Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room SOLD OUT
10/5 - Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room
10/12 - Washington, DC @ All Things Go Festival
10/19 - 10/20 - Las Vegas, NV @ Metarama Circus Gaming Festival
10/22 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
10/23 - Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
10/25 - Minneapolis, MN @ Amsterdam Hall
10/26 - Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
10/27- Detroit, MI @ Shelter
10/31 - San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
11/6 - Toronto, ON @ Velvet Underground
11/8 - Boston, MA @ The Sinclair SOLD OUT
11/9 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Foundry
11/11 - Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade SOLD OUT
11/15 - New York, NY @ Gramercy Theatre SOLD OUT
12/1 - Southampton, UK @ Engine Room*
12/2 - Birmingham, UK @ Academy 2* SOLD OUT
12/3 - Norwich, UK @ Epic*
12/5 - Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club* SOLD OUT
12/6 - Glasgow, UK @ The Garage* SOLD OUT
12/7 - Manchester, UK @ Manchester Academy 2* SOLD OUT
12/8 - Dublin, Ireland @ Dublin Academy Green Room* SOLD OUT
12/10 - Bristol, UK @ The Fleece* SOLD OUT
12/12 - London, UK @ Electric Ballroom*
*Supporting Cavetown
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