Exmaid – Jaxon’s Local Shots Artist of the Month
“There is a place I go at night / where the spirits go all right / I will connect to you tonight.” These are lyrics from “Lite” sung by Miranda Taylor on EXMAID’s sophomore album Sorcery. “The album is largely about the inexplicable and otherworldly connections we can feel with one another,” Taylor admits, “and about relationships beginning and ending.”
EXMAID began as a songwriting vehicle for Taylor with the three members of post punk band Psychic Teens backing her up both live and in the studio. On Sorcery the band (guitarist and lead vocalist Miranda Taylor, lead guitarist and vocalist Larry Ragone, bassist Joe DeCarolis, and drummer Dave Cherasaro) composed ten songs together resulting in a more cohesive and satisfying session than with their 2018 debut Fair Sex. Since the album’s completion, Taylor and Ragone have continued the project as a duo.
“Miranda and I sent voice memo demos back and forth,” Ragone explains, “and when we would meet up at practice the next week, we would already have a head start on a song and things would come together quickly.”
With writing happening during tumultuous times in both Ragone and Taylor’s personal lives, they agreed to be as open with each other as possible and use these songs to work through their experiences. “While playing and writing we began to observe that our points of view and intuitions about life were pretty similar and we just kept pushing further.” The album title Sorcery came into existence due to this connection. “Sometimes there are so many weird coincidences you just can’t ignore them,” adds Taylor.
“Mary,” the album’s lead-off track finds both voices recounting scenarios culled from dreams. “There was smoke in the doorway / smoke in the hall / fire all around me / ten feet tall / it’s now or never / it’s not at all / it’s everything perfect / up against a wall.” “Mary” leads into the more metal-influenced “Moth” complete with tremolo picked guitars and slow, crushing stoner rock breaks. “I think we were able to bring in many of our different influences this time around,” Ragone says. “Miranda is really into the lush and sometimes totally bonkers vocal harmonies of Pentangle, while I have been on a metal kick lately- and we all listen to a ton of punk, grunge, and dark alternative stuff. It all works together somehow.”
Throughout the duration of the album, there are musical and lyrical through-lines that both tell a story, and show off EXMAID’s sonic abilities. Reverb-soaked guitars and vocals are reminiscent of both the post punk and shoegaze influences of Ragone while also drawing from the British folk obsession of Taylor. Those sounds merge with their more fast-paced songs that pull from both 70s proto-metal and 90s indie rock. Such is “Moldy”, a quick-paced power pop song with an anthemic sing-along chorus and “Swim” is a grunge-inspired rocker that takes a left turn into a free-noise crescendo. The album closer “Meow” displays a penchant for twin-harmony guitars and the urgency in the vocals from both Taylor and Ragone is honest and authentic.
With the writing of “Sorcery” being catalyzed by personal and shared experiences between Ragone and Taylor, the two have chosen to make this the debut release on their own label BANGS AND BURNS. “This record is important to us,” says Taylor. “Being responsible for all aspects of its release and presentation is really exciting.”
She adds, “The thing I want people to take from this record is that your feelings are valid and your experiences are real and important. Your honesty about those experiences can ultimately have a positive effect on the people close to you, and dishonesty will have a lasting negative effect. Being able to let go of negativity, let go of what your narrative has been thus far, and take hold of what you actually want is a really glorious thing.”
Keep up with Exmaid: Instagram | Bandcamp | Facebook
Listen to “Moth”
Listen to “Dead”
Listen to “Jane”
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