Have you ever written someone a letter to let them know how you really felt about them? Or perhaps a whole album? mxmtoon’s ‘liminal space’ was a way for her to express her emotions to her friends and family in a way she felt comfortable doing. It was “scary” at times but the results have definitely outweighed the risks, it seems, with a beautiful album full of introspective and thoughtful songs.
mxmtoon, also known as Maia, was recently seen giving a performance of ‘Rain’ – from her newly released album ‘liminal space’ – on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’. The performance is joyful and mxmtoon smiles as she dances on stage while singing.
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Of the performance, mxmtoon says: “It was really, really cool. I’ve never done anything like that before. And I am so grateful that I got to do it. I am so [excited] that I started writing and making music as a teenager in my bedroom and now I am getting texts from my next door neighbour saying, ‘Is that you on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live?’” she laughs.
The title of the album, ‘liminal space’ refers to a metaphorical ‘doorway’ or new beginning in life. On this album, mxmtoon is self-aware but also hesitant to really speak her mind due to nerves in regard to how it may be perceived. The end result was a success, as she relayed her messages in an important way for her loved ones to hear and she overcame her vulnerability and even used it to her advantage.
She says: “Obviously, the album is about my life and I think that what I would describe as being the most liminal of spaces would be the relationships with the people that I love really dearly in my life and feeling the ebbs and flow of the closeness that you experience with the people that you really care about and I think sometimes the complexities that come with those closer relationships of how you are honest and vulnerable and, sometimes, can struggle with that too so the in-betweens of those relationships are my liminal spaces.”
When mxmtoon played her new album to her family, she found that daunting. She says: “It was really scary. I remember talking to my mom about a couple of these songs and having to sit her down and show her them for the first time and showing my dad a song that was about him too and just being really terrified of what their reactions would be, while also helping them understand that sometimes we blow things up for art and maybe make them seem more dramatic than they actually might be and also sometimes how our feelings, internally, can feel a lot bigger than they actually might manifest as in our daily lives.
“I was really scared to be that vulnerable with my parents but I also trust them a lot and I know that they really love the things I create and even if the lyrics and the things I am talking about are more complex, maybe not so optimistic and positive in every single point, that they still really love me and trust me in my ability to articulate what my feelings are. It was scary but I’m glad that I did it.”
Being so vulnerable on the album was not easy, but it is something mxmtoon is grateful she has done. She says: “It was kind of scary. I’ve never felt so pro-active about trying to be as honest as possible especially when it comes to talking about the intricacies of my relationship to my family or partners in the past, even. It felt scary but also really gratifying, because I think I was honest in a way that was really refreshing for me for the first time in a long time. It was equal parts terrifying and also necessary to go about that.”
When asked how much this album means to her in comparison to the ones that came before, mxmtoon does not hesitate for a second, before answering: “It means the most that a project has ever meant to me. I feel myself reflected so heavily in the material, in a really consistent way that I’ve not felt before. It means a lot. Also, because it was also so deeply about the relationships in my life with family, it felt really exciting to have them be so present in a lot of the songs I was releasing and also scary, too, to feel like I was making art that was actively untangling the relationships with them that I have. It means a lot, definitely. It’s so personal. ”
Mxmtoon has a EU and UK tour scheduled for April 2025. About the shows, she says: “I am really excited. I feel like it’s been a long time coming. I am really grateful to be in a spot where I feel like I am ready for it now. I know I had a tour planned a while back and had to stop because of mental health reasons and I feel really grateful to be back in a position where I am really excited to be back in the UK and Europe playing shows. I have only played Paris and London so I am really excited to play those cities again, but I’m also really excited to play new places and not make people commute to London just to see me play.” She laughs.
Mxmtoon made a very conscious decision to work with an all-female creative team on ‘liminal space’, describing it as: “super exciting” and “rare” in the music industry and the “increased level of comfort” encouraged her to be more “honest” in her songwriting. “I was working with people I felt could really understand the experiences that I was talking about in these songs right off the bat.”
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‘liminal space’ is out now.
Words: Narzra Ahmed
Photo Credit: Bảo Ngô
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