Maximilian shares debut EP ‘Diurnals’
The Brighton musician delivers an EP to be reckoned with.
Photo: Joanie O’Mara
Brighton folk rock singer Maximilian is back with his beautiful new EP Diurnals. The EP is out via Crafting Room Recordings (ELLiS·D) and simply sounds nothing short of absolutely gorgeous and lavish. Maximilian is a mainstay of the Brighton DIY scene and Diurnals is the follow-up release to last spring’s expansive post-rock epic ‘Long Time Gone’.
If you’re a fan of Sufjan Stevens’ 2015 masterpiece Carrie & Lowell, then you will absolutely love this EP. Like Stevens’ most haunting work, Diurnals makes sure to strip things back; acoustic instrumentation, live recording and no click track. It is music made in the moment.
Opening song Soft Song For A Worried Mind kicks us off with lovely, detailed, attentive imagery as the song recounts someone who “tosses and turns all night long” with a “candlelit face.” There is such delicate care and attention to detail in not just the lyrics but the entire arrangements within these songs. The production is lush and lavish. It is a testament to the love put into this music that it sounds so carefully considered and crafted.
Each song on Diurnals sounds like a mini cinematic universe unfolding inside your ears. These songs are so wonderfully performed and elegantly produced that it’s impossible not to find yourself completely entranced. Every song is unique, yet they all share some degree of the same sweeping, clear orchestral arrangements that are somehow simultaneously grand and ambitious yet also sparse and intimate.
Second song Rest Your Head has all the dramatic, melodic drive of XO era Elliott Smith. Generally, Maximilian’s vocal stylings continue to take cues from Robert Smith, but on these songs, he is able to make them distinctively his own.
Third song, Lightning Strike, is perhaps the EP’s most beautiful and affecting moment. As Maximilian asks that the “sun soak your skin”, it’s hard not to be taken back to emo classics of years gone by like Jimmy Eat World’s seminal record Clarity. Lead single I Know You closes the album on a cheerier, yet still achingly bittersweet note. It is warm and inviting and a perfect note to close out on.
These songs are intimate but still warm and welcoming. They are grand and orchestral and yet you still feel like you exist in the same room as them. They are gentle and unassuming yet endlessly powerful and potent. With Diurnals, Maximilian has achieved the best of both worlds. It is intimate music that is neither cold nor sparse, and it is always likely to bring a smile to your face.
Diurnals is out now via Crafting Room Recordings.
