“almost home” Video
mxmtoon has spent the last few months writing and preparing her latest work while keeping busy connecting with fans through her vast online community. Her unique ability to use platforms like Twitch, TikTok, Youtube has enabled her to become a consistent voice for millions of people around the world on issues of social justice and equality, using her platform to not only share her art but important messages of hope and solidarity.
mxmtoon will also play Lollapalooza’s Virtual Festival taking place this weekend where she will give fans an exclusive musical performance on Friday July 31st 6:10PM Central.
Praise for mxmtoon:
mxmtoon’s music has the intimate, conversational folk-pop simplicity of the Moldy Peaches or Regina Spektor, mixed with the Gen-Z, postgenre bedroom instincts of Clairo, girl in red and Beabadoobee - The New York Times
"The lyrics could sound didactic in other hands, but they’re delivered with the tenderness and feather-lightness of a young person discovering these things for the first time — and meaning them." Time Magazine
"California artist mxmtoon's "fever dream" is a nostalgic song about wanting more than, as she sings, "restless mornings." The '90s-leaning singer-songwriter production and her sweet melodies make sure mxmtoon eventually breaks out of her malaise. She comes out on the other side with an empowered message for her listeners: "Take your time, enjoy it/ Every fleeting moment." PAPER Magazine
"mxmtoon has developed into a reliable songwriting presence since her 2018 debut, and new single “Lessons” offers a lush arrangement and message of not overthinking what you cannot control -- sage advice for us all right now." Billboard
“‘dawn’ marks the start of something bolder for mxmtoon” NME
"...it showcases the blissful beauty of making a space for yourself amidst a busy world." Uproxx
"Her new EP dawn is her most ambitious collection to date, showcasing the artist’s range over seven tracks that touch on love, anxiety, authenticity, and self-acceptance." American Songwriter
"mxmtoon's music is akin to an emotional revelation” Ones To Watch
"Her gentle wave of self-reflections are both uplifting and grounding at the same time." LADYGUNN
“Her lyrics are wise in their simple depictions, and her vulnerability is similarly straightforward, making her relatable to not only her Gen Z fans, but listeners of all ages yearning for something that’s direct and still serene. " Cinnamon Magazine
The California-raised and Brooklyn-based musician known as Maia, started playing music at six years old and was trained classically on violin and cello. As her musical studies continued, Maia eventually gravitated towards the guitar and ukulele—the latter instrument shaping the very foundation of her musical career. "That's how I started doing covers of songs," she remembers. "I'd take home the ukulele from music class and try to learn how to play the songs that I loved."
Maia's transformation into mxmtoon further developed when she was being bitten by the songwriting bug after receiving a school assignment to write a song: "I wrote a song about not knowing what to write a song about," she laughs. Eventually, private toiling turned public as she began posting her music online as mxmtoon in 2017.
"At that point, I already used social media to express myself," she explains, "and making songs was something that felt like another aspect of expressing who I was." Although Maia cites kindred musical spirit Rex Orange County an influence, she stresses the personalness of her music above all else: "Writing music feels like a diary entry to me—a way to keep track of my thoughts. I'm too concerned with sounds or styles, just writing what makes sense to me."
Her first EP, plum blossom, was released in 2018 right around the time when she graduated high school and decided to focus on music full-time. The EP clocked more than 100 million streams on Spotify alone—not bad for songs recorded by herself in her parents’ guest room. Since then she’s sold out her US tour, is amassing millions of streams per day across DSP’s and gained millions of followers and subscribers across YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, making 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.”
Last year's debut album, the masquerade, received praise from the likes of The New York Times, NPR and The New Yorker who point to "an emotional sophistication that reminded us that there are some things we never outgrow.” Sonically it found Maia moving forward from the ukulele-led bedroom recordings of her early work towards a fuller and thrilling sheen thanks to studio time with producer Robin Skinner. "Everything to this point was acoustic, and I wanted to make something that sounded more produced, polished, and thought-out," she explains while discussing her collaborations with Robin, "It was really exciting to work with him—an insanely new experience and a pivotal point in my life. I didn't have the vocabulary to talk about what I wanted in my music, so working with Robin so collaboratively helped me figured out what I wanted in my own music."
"Each project I've done in the past has been a level up from where I was in the past," Maia continues while discussing what dawn means to her as an artist—and, potentially, to her listeners. "This is my era of taking the production to another level, but also working with others to help me realize even more about the type of music I could make. I'm always striving to challenge myself to progress more—to have a better understanding of other people's experiences and to write songs that express that. I've made a lot of the music I've been most proud of making.”
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