The story of Maggie Rogers’ rise to fame is becoming something of a legend in the music industry: a young college student moves Pharell Williams to tears during an NYU masterclass and her song goes viral. Ever since that moment, Rogers’ career has been on a constant trajectory upwards as her craft becomes more widely acknowledged and appreciated. She remains determined to define (and redefine) herself on her own terms. With every song, music video, and live performance, Rogers further establishes herself as one of the most versatile and captivating musicians of our time.
Three years after the release of Maggie Rogers’ critically acclaimed debut album, Heard It In A Past Life, the songwriter and producer has returned with a force. She released a new single on Friday titled That’s Where I Am, the first track we’re hearing from her second album, and it’s glorious. In four minutes and thirteen seconds, Rogers crafted the ultimate soundscape for a spring and summer full of late-night dances and road trips down the coast. The song is bright, not bright like the sun, but rather in the way that neon lights are bright against a starry night sky. Its production is full: exploding with synths and reverb, hands clapping, and heavy drums. Rogers’ voice is clear and strong, but it is also smooth and well-controlled. She uses her voice as an instrument to the fullest potential, chopping up layers of her harmonies to create an underlying melody and rhythm. She belts out lyrics like, “You never touched me, but I felt you everywhere” with an ease that is a testament to her confidence in herself and her story. She knows the story she wants to tell, and she knows exactly how she wants to tell it.
Rogers has always crafted the visuals for her music with care and attention to detail. She has synesthesia, meaning that specific music and sounds hold specific visual colors for her. Because of this, her music videos are always something to look forward to. Her visuals elevate her music, and vice versa. The music video for That’s Where I Am fits right into the carefree, spring/summer tone of the song. It’s a dreamy New York City spring day, complete with bouquets of roses, leather boots, green boas, and nuns following choreography. There are taxi cab rides with friends, red balloons, and sprints across the Brooklyn Bridge at sunset. It all culminates in Rogers singing on a rooftop in a sparkling dress with the Empire State Building aglow behind her. The video is a collage of freedom, friendship, and pure bliss. It leaves the viewer with an unshakeable desire to go outside and walk in the sun with their head held high. If the phrase “jumping for joy” had a visual assigned to it, it would be this video.
In a single word, That’s Where I Am is victorious, which is not altogether surprising given what we know about the theme of Roger’s second album. The album is titled Surrender (releasing on July 29th), and Rogers announced it with a poem about surrendering to love and giving up control. She writes, “This is the story of what happened when I finally gave in. When I felt it all. When I finally let go… I found peace in distortion. A chaos I could control.” This concept is reflected in the entirety of That’s Where I Am. From the production to the lyrics to the visuals, it’s controlled chaos, just as Rogers described, and the chaos is a blissful surrender to love in all of its facets. With its shimmer, color, and intrigue, That’s Where I Am is the perfect introduction to the world that Rogers has built for the next chapter of her story.