Ohio-born, California-based songwriter Maria BC recently announced their debut album Hyaline and shared lead single “The Only Thing“. Today they return with a second teaser called “Good Before” and reveal:
“I wrote “Good before” in 2019, before any of the other songs on Hyaline — and before any of the songs on Devil’s Rain, for that matter. I put it away for a while because I thought it was too pop-y, but eventually I got over that. Now it holds a special place in my heart. Some of the lyrics came to me on the highway, when the sun was starting to rise, and I was running on no sleep, just Dunkin’. It’s unusual for lyrics to come to me ~in the wild~ like this. I like to block out time to sit in a spot and write. That’s just my style. When inspiration comes to me out of nowhere, I’m immensely grateful.”
It makes some sort of sense that the words for “Good Before” came to Maria on the road, as a long drive gives you time to stew on thoughts and cast your mind to unexpected places – often memories, which is what the songwriter is revolving around here. Without going into any specifics, they conjure a sense of connection with a person or place from their past, realising that “it was good before”, their tender voice perfectly balancing the pleasure and pain in that thought. The sonic architecture supports this sudden realisation of nostalgic regret with glistening atmospheric tones that seem to reflect the words back on the singer, forcing them to face it, whether they like it or not.
Listen to “Good Before” below or find it on streaming platforms.
Maria BC’s debut album Hyaline will be out on May 27 through Father/Daughter / Fear Of Missing Out (pre-order/save). You can find them on Bandcamp, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
