Wilder Music

By Elsa Commander.

Maphe, an indie-pop artist from South-East London released her floating new single ‘you’re so cool’ a few days ago. The track is a dreamy, upbeat pop track, delving into the experience of unreciprocated love for someone ‘out of your league.’

With a synth-like guitar sound and clear drum beats, ‘you’re so cool’ manages to perfectly encompass the excitement and anxiety of one-sided attachment, telling a vivid story of pushing away the hope of connection. 

The song is a bittersweet revelation of unrequited love, with heartfelt lyrics such as ‘I thought I’d earned a little something by now.’ Similarly, ‘falling in love one sided, god, what a fool!’ captures the emotion in a somewhat humorous way. Maphe described ‘you’re so cool’ as being a “facade of nonchalance” – in other words, hiding your true emotions to save yourself from harm.

Maphe’s indie-pop style toes the line between Lorde and Gracie Abrams, with a strong flavour of Marina and the Diamonds. It’s her use of uniquely retrospective, relatable lyrics tied to a frame of quiet but punchy instrumental that makes Maphe’s sound her own.

Maphe has had notable successes as a musician in recent years, previously earning a spot in the Glastonbury Emerging Talent Longlist, as well as a song placement in Netflix’s Queer Eye.

Although Maphe’s music has taken a shift recently from a soft melancholy tone to a more upbeat, passionate hum, each song continues to revolve around a drifting, flowy centre; crucial to the style that she has cultivated.

The new single ‘you’re so cool’ is streaming on all platforms now, we would thoroughly recommend giving it a listen!