On My Playlist: Beautiful Scars by Maximillian

 

About the Song

The 20-year-old promising Danish act Maximillian, has just started 2019 with a personal but simply hypnotic new single “Beautiful Scars”. A perfect mix between the honest lyrics (about his past and his own flaws and mistakes) and the earworming melody of it that will be stuck in your mind for ages.

“I made a lot of bad decisions, hung out with the wrong people and did a lot of things I regret. I literally lived a life on the edge at the age of 13 and “Beautiful Scars” is me facing my life growing up. It’s about how I used to behave and treat people around me. How we all have inner demons that sometimes burst out in the world with no warning,” Maximillian explains.

Maximillian embraces this wonderful trend in which pop is becoming more and more honest: “I believe it’s important to embrace your demons. No one’s perfect –so embrace that –and live your life as good as you possibly can!

Vibe of Silence

Some of my personal favorite lyrics:

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Broken all the pieces I've been shaping lately
Focused on the things that didn't make no sense
Guess that growing up was never meant to be easy

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I went down a road that only got me nowhere
I've seen every corner, every inch of this place
Being all alone it really got me thinking, maybe overthinking

Although Maximillian is talking about the mistakes and bad decisions that he’s made in his past, I also feel sometimes when life’s not going the way you imagine it to be, or when life isn’t making sense and you feel lost, you got to break down all the things that you know up to that point of your life before you can have a new start and gain a new perspective. Because, like they say, if you keep doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different result, that’s insanity and you won’t be able to grow from that.

And sometimes being all alone is the exact thing you need to grow. In this current world that’s constantly filled with new content every single second that’s screaming for your attention, you barely got time to think, let alone overthink (although it’s probably not a problem if you’re an overthinker by nature I suppose).

Thinking in peace without having to worry that the world will run and left you behind is, in my opinion, a luxury. Being able to stay still is something that you have to intentionally choose to do. And admittedly, it’s scary being alone with your most honest inner thoughts because sometimes (most of the time, really), every single emotions within you that you usually numbed down with the distractions of this world will bubble up to the surface.

And then, you’ll actually feel.

It’ll be intense and uncomfortable and (sometimes) painful because the only thing you’re focusing on is your feelings. But if you’re brave enough to face your own fears and be honest with your feelings, it’ll also give you a sense of clarity about what you want and what you need in your life.

Growing up is a never ending process that we’ll have to go through all of our life and it’s certainly not easy.

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Oh, but what is lost ain't gone
No, you can't just let go
'Cause it's a part of you that will make you strong
Embrace your flaws

I believe every bad decisions, mistakes, sadness, pain, anger and heartbreaks in your past certainly made you who you are today. I know people usually say you should let all the negative things that has happened in your life go and forget about it. Although I do believe in letting things go, I also believe that letting things go doesn’t mean that you have to forget all about it because sometimes, things that happened to us will keep us humble, grounded and in touch with the reality of this world. They teach us to be smarter, to be better, and to be stronger.

Every bad decisions, mistakes, sadness, pain, anger and heartbreaks in your past certainly made you who you are today, but they certainly don’t define your future.

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I'm not gonna fight back what I've become
Yeah, I've got bruises where I came from
I've been going way too hard on myself
Guess that it's the reason I've been feeling like hell
But I wouldn't change if I could restart
I ain't gonna hide these beautiful scars

Being a perfectionist and an idealist at heart, embracing my flaws is something that I’m still learning to do. It took me a quite while to accept that as much as I want to do good, sometimes I fell short because I’m a mere imperfect human. And it’s okay to have flaws because it makes me human. I took me even longer to realize that sometimes I really do go way too hard on myself (and yes, it’s definitely one of the reason why it felt like hell during those times).

Have I embraced my flaws fully? No, not really. I still have to make a conscious decision to do it every single time. But now, I think it gets a little easier for me. Especially when I have people around me to let me be vulnerable and, well, imperfect. People who accepted my flaws with nothing but a listening ear and a silent understanding. People who teaches me how to go easier on myself and love myself a little more. I’m thankful for those people.

One thing that I fully agree with this song is that every single one of these beautiful (battle) scars that I have, have made me who I am today.

Would I change anything if I could restart?

Honestly?

Probably.

There are some painful chapters in my life that I wish I never gone through. But then again, if I skipped those chapters, I probably won’t be who I am today now, am I?

Watch the MV:

 

 
 

On My Playlist: Sumthin Bout Love by Belanegara Abe ft. Kaleb J & Rayi Putra

 
 

 
 

On My Playlist: Kids Are Born Stars by Lauv

 

About the Song

The upbeat track is about a girl Lauv crushed on when he was a middle schooler and how he shared his prophesy that he was “going to be a really big star.” The music video sees the current version of the singer interacting with his younger self and helping him recover from a broken heart.

The song and its music video are also nostalgia bombs, with respective references to defunct messaging services, as well as featuring styles from the early aughts.

“When I started making this album, I was doing a lot of inner child meditation work and this song was me getting back in touch with my 8th grade self and giving him a little dose of confidence because Lord knows he would’ve needed it back then,” Lauv said in a statement. “As an adult I had lost touch with my sense of confidence too and making this song and the whole album helped me get back in touch with the person I really am.” —wrmf.com

 

 
 

On My Playlist: High School in Jakarta by Niki

 

About the song

“High School in Jakarta” revisits Indonesian singer-songwriter NIKI’s high school years. After revelling the challenge of maintaining a long-distance relationship and the end of this relationship in the videos of “Before” and “Oceans & Engines,” the video of the third and final single off NIKI’s sophomore album depicts how the young couple fell in love in high school.

As a prequel to the previous music videos, from a nostalgic lens, we see how NIKI and her ex-lover met in the drama club, how they fell in love, and how they came up with their couple handshake, which also appeared in the previous videos. The music video of the song stars NIKI as her teenage self and co-stars Peter Adrian Sudarso, who plays her ex-boyfriend throughout these videos.

Interestingly, NIKI’s 88rising labelmates Warren Hue, Rich Brian, Brian’s girlfriend Vanteyy, Warren Hue’s frequent collaborator Chasu and NIKI’s boyfriend Jacob Ray all make cameo appearances in the video in a yearbook photo shoot scene.

Genius.com

Reading the lyrics of Niki’s ‘High School in Jakarta’ feels like reading Niki’s journal entry from her high school days. From the mention of some familiar names that we know are her friends in real life, the multiple goodbyes she experienced when her friends moved away, new hellos that led to budding friendships, as well as typical teenage dramas and emotional roller coaster that she (and I bet all of us) experienced in high school, the song feels very personal and once again gave me a nostalgic feeling to my own high school days. I think everybody who went (or goes) to some sort of international school, bilingual school, national plus school (or whatever names they are calling it these days) in Jakarta can probably relate to lyrics of this song (believe me, there are lots of familiar scenes here).

Some of my personal favorites:


Now there's drama, found a club for that
Where I met ya, had a heart attack
Yadda, yadda

I think these lines are funny and cleverly written. Drama is probably the main ingredient of all high school life all around the world.


High school in Jakarta, sorta modern Sparta
Had no chance against the teenage suburban armadas

“Here, NIKI is alluding to the strains of high school society on relationships as similar to a present-time Sparta. Relationships that start during high school rarely make it through the brutalities of “war” (drama, gossip, expectations), and those that do are admirable.

“Had no chance against the teenage suburban armadas”, illustrates again, the cruel and relentless fleet of 16-18/19 years old [in Indonesia, high school is 3 years instead of 4) constantly weighing in on the subjects' relationship.” —Genius.com

I mean, high school in Jakarta could be pretty brutal fo sho. When your whole life is centered around school and friends from school (which probably what 99% of Indonesians experienced during their high school days, or at least knowing about where Niki went to school when she was in Jakarta, I believe she probably did experience this) it can definitely equates to going to war and winning daily social battles with fellow teenagers who live mostly in suburbia. I think ‘modern Sparta’ and ‘teenage suburban armadas’ illustrate the experience perfectly.


We were a sonata, thanks to tight-lipped fathers.

“NIKI describes the subjects' love as a sonata, a musical composition whose form is careful and intricate, allowing a compilation of multiple unique movements in a related key. Meaning, the couple had to be wary of how they carried their relationship, especially around their fathers who were guarded and hard to read.”—Genius.com

A little nod to Asian dads (or maybe dads in general) who are usually more reserved and less open about emotions in front for their kids and usually protective towards their daughters.


High school in Jakarta, sorta modern Sparta

High school in Jakarta, an elaborate saga
High school in Jakarta, a comedy drama
High school in Jakarta, American summer

Also love how she comes up with these categories on different verses. High school days were definitely a war, a saga, a comedy drama, and after experiencing that all year long, if you’re lucky enough, you’ll end the school year with spending the long summer break in America (it’s a pretty popular common holiday destination for those with that privilege).

Watch the full MV below:

Also, the official lyric video:

The yearbook quotes on this picture were pretty fun to read.

Now that the third song has been released, Niki announced that all her three recent releases are part of a short film that will be released soon. Read about the details on the caption of her Instagram post below.

 

 
 

On My Playlist: Oceans & Engines by Niki

 

About The Song

“Wrote this song in 2016 when I was 17 experiencing the earth-shattering heartbreak of a first love moving away for good. It is massively dramatic & long with a naïveté & innocence I look back on fondly now at 23. Like she had no idea about what was going to happen. Like the fact that after writing it in bed at ungodly hours of an 11th grade weeknight snacking on stale cereal she would eventually revisit the song and release it years later. Life can be quite cyclical at times and that has become painfully obvious throughout the process of re-working these songs that are some years old now. Can’t wait for you all to hear each one nestled in the plush & pillowy company of sister songs when the album drops in August but in the mean time, here’s a second snippet of my favorite thing I’ve made so far.” —Niki via Instagram

Watch the music video here: (It’s giving me a nostalgic, innocent first love vibes)

Been a fan of Niki and her self-written song lyrics that have always been written beautifully. This one is probably one of my new favorite out of all her new works. Some of my favorite parts from this song:


Fingers entwined and so were our minds
Cryin', "I don't want you to go"

Have been moved around and experienced goodbyes quite frequently in my life, I’m pretty sure this has happened to me more than once. Goodbyes always sucks. Even suckier when you found somebody who you feel connected to.


But I'm stickin' to the screenplay
Gotta say I'm okay, but answer this, babe
How is it now that, somehow, you're a strangеr?
You were mine just yesterday

But life goes on. Whether you want to admit it or not, distance does change things. As much as you want to try to keep things the way they were, at one point, somebody who’s close to you can easily become a stranger overnight.


But heaven denied
Destiny decried
Somethin' beautiful died
Too soon

This part is just beautifully written.


But I'm lettin' go
I'm givin' up the ghost
But don't get me wrong
I'll always love you, that's why I
Wrote you this very last song
I guess this is where we say goodbye
I know I'll be alright
Someday, I'll be fine
But just not tonight (Ooh)

Also this chorus that’s filled with heartbreak, fondness and acceptance of a closed chapter summed up what life and love are all about.

 

 
 

On My Playlist: Glimpse of Us by Joji

 
 

 
 

On My Playlist: Colorblind by Mokita

 
 

 
 

On My Playlist: Friends by Emma løv, Loote & Jordy

 
 

 
 

On My Playlist: Numb Little Bug by Em Beihold

 
 

 
 

On My Playlist: Zoom by Jessi