Nu-pop rising star Maggie Lindemann has officially kicked off a new era with the release of her brand new single "hostage."
The song sees her not only embracing the heavier elements that made her debut album SUCKERPUNCH stand out among the more mainstream palatable pop-punk of her peers, but doubling down. As the guitar track alternates between chugging and skipping alongside razor sharp synths it conjures shades of Hybrid Theory era Linkin Park, which are colours she has dabbled with in the past but now has grown to paint with masterfully. Meanwhile her incredibly versatile vocals implore the listener to “be patient with me” and “hold me close when my voice gets shaky” as she proclaims herself to be a hostage to her own fear and self-doubt, like a prisoner in her own mind.
However not all is doom and gloom, as despite the music video depicting Maggie trapped in a locked mansion alone with only her self-sabotaging thoughts for company, the second verse states that “when my mind feels lost, and you shelter me, it sets me free”. This vulnerability, combining the inner turmoil found so often in our beloved genre with an equal capacity for hope that when combined with the sweeping chorus gives the song a lot of emotional weight that could be compared to the work of her nu-metal foremother Amy Lee of Evanescence, but that Maggie’s warm and delicate vocals make fully her own on this independent release and also the first song entirely penned by herself since breaking from the major label machine.
Combined with the Siiickbrain collaboration track deprecating, which released in October of 2023, it sets the stage for Maggie to deliver one hell of a sophomore effort, slated to be released later this year, which if hostage is anything to go by will see Maggie refining and elevating her sound into even further, nu-er heights.
