Maddy Low is showing that some of the most potent songs arise from introspection. Her new single, “Dragons,” is a piercing snapshot of perfectionism, an intimate look into how our expectations for ourselves can silently become our fiercest adversaries.
“Dragons” pull you into an emotional terrain that is delicate and vast. A breeze-bound acoustic guitar brings the song down, a secret whispered to a trusted comrade after midnight. But over the course of the track, it grows and fattens layer on layer with piano, strings, weightless harmonies that hover just out of reach. The arrangement reflects the subject itself, a small thing that quietly swells until it seems to loom.
Maddy says the track is about the feeling you get when you’re drowning in your own unhealthy need to do everything yourself. It’s a feeling that stings, especially when one of the characteristics of youth in the developed world is the unrealistic weight of expectation. That potency was reflected in her razor-sharp lyrics, even as they’re a bit overdetermined in spots. In one breath, she depicts the unseen struggles so many face in silence.
What’s weepy about “Dragons” is how delicate and devastating it is. The production never dominates Maddy’s voice, however, and that voice carries an authenticity that feels impossible to fake. Every note is lived-in, deliberate, as if she’s not just singing about perfectionism but actually wrestling with it in real time.
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