Breathing new life into the Canadian music landscape, Vancouver artist, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, Alexandria Maillot, takes listeners on a journey through lava-lamp-lit bedrooms and rain-soaked roads. Spinning sonic motifs of acoustic wonder and electric drive, Maillot’s sound is familiar yet refreshing – a favourite transistor radio playing classic vibes with a contemporary twist. With gritted, nuanced vocals reminiscent of a blend between Angel Olsen and Lana Del Ray, nostalgic narratives paired with the electro-pop playfulness of Alanis Morissette circa Jagged Little Pill, Maillot has been steadily gaining momentum in a post-genre era.
If southern rock, dream pop, and R&B were blended together and baked in a grungy Easy-Bake oven, it might come out sounding something like Benevolence.
Benevolence, Maillot’s sophomore release, features seven sonic offerings along with two bonus tracks etched into the vinyl edition. In the lead song, “I Never Liked Your Friends”, Maillot’s controlled, evocative vocals find a path through the beautiful chaos of instrumentation—lush strings, gruff guitar riffs and resounding layers of crushed-velvet background vocals. “Lose My Mind” is fierce; an intimate inner dialogue, excavating the precariousness of human impermanence alongside the existential dread in a day-job. “Messed It Up”, Maillot’s first single from this album, is an open wound desperately yearning to be mended.