Maggie Lindemann has released her new EP, PARANOIA and it's safe to say it's different from what you might expect if you remember her as the pop princess who released 'Pretty Girls' in 2016.
PARANOIA sits somewhere between old school pop-punk and electro music - think bringing Evanescence into 2021 and you're pretty much there. The clash of these genres feels genuine, and it certainly doesn't feel like Lindemann is doing this just for the sake of doing something different. You can tell that there's an honesty in the dark tales she tells, and the experimentation throughout the EP feels like Lindemann is trying to find her individual sound, and generally, she succeeds.
All the tracks are short and sharp, rather than lengthy ballads, which works incredibly well with this sound and the experimentation that Lindemann is doing.
The lyrical themes throughout PARANOIA vary from descriptions of being in love to the borderline horror movie plot of EP opener 'Knife Under My Pillow'. 'Knife Under My Pillow' really grabs you as a first track and sets the scene for the rest of the EP, setting tensions high and making you feel on edge, with a very satisfying beat.
Songs like 'Scissorhands', 'Loner', and 'Crash and Burn' make up the middle of this EP synch well with each other and solidify Lindemann's rebellious and intense sound, with instrumentals and haunting vocals that produce a dark and magnetic atmosphere.
The highlight of PARANOIA is the track that sits away from this jet black pop-punk sound in its own acoustic world. 'Love Songs' is a sentimental love song that showcases Lindemann's versatility. To be able to succeed with the heavy sound she has with most of the tracks on Paranoia, and still be equally good with an acoustic sound is incredibly impressive and shows Lindemann has a lot to offer.
The only track I would say that doesn't really work on this EP is 'GASLIGHT!', which features Siiickbrain - it's a victim of experimentation and trying to do something different going a bit too far. It doesn't really take away from the rest of the EP, but it is a track that will probably be skipped when relistening.
PARANOIA ends with 'It's Not Your Fault,' which mixes together everything we've heard so far in the album. Heavy instrumentals mixed with more subtle sounds on the verses, talking about love, heartbreak, and independence in equal amounts.
What's great about this EP is that the energy and angst don't feel forced like they can with a lot of others in this genre. Maggie Lindemann owns this sound that she's putting forward, and it feels like it's coming straight from the heart and from her own experiences.
With such a lot of variety appearing on PARANOIA, it's easy to forget that it's only an EP and Lindemann is yet to release her debut album. It's not a perfect EP but it is promising and is embracing a sound that isn't too prevalent in the charts at the moment, so it'll be interesting to see which direction she takes her debut album in when it's eventually released. Lindemann has certainly proved with PARANOIA that she's not just a Pretty Girl, she's an artist to be taken seriously.