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Jan 20, 2022 By Caleb Campbell

Next month, Portland indie rock outfit MAITA is set to release their new album, I Just Want To Be Wild For You. Following after their 2020 Kill Rock Stars debut, Best Wishes, the band are back with another record for the veteran indie label, deconstructing disconnection and loneliness over gauzy indie rock. The band have already shared a string of singles last year, including “Road Song,” “Honey, Have I Lost It All?,” and “You Sure Can Kill A Sunday, Part 1.” Today they have shared their latest single, “Loneliness,” premiering with Under the Radar.

Loneliness has a strange effect on the mind. It can be a desperate burden and an unusual comfort. “Loneliness” captures both sides of that coin; the monotony and beauty of disconnection. Written about singer Maria Maita-Keppeler’s time spent studying in Kyoto, the track personifies the loneliness of the period in both tumultuous guitar melodies and angelic vocal passages.

With the verses, the band captures the monotony of isolation, crafting swirling elliptical melodies with Maita-Keppeler singing in a gray monotone. With the chorus though, Maita-Keppeler’s voice soars high above, transforming into a tremendous celestial beauty as she tributes loneliness as a companion and friend一“I spent years on your arm, I spent years in your bed / Cursed your name at the ground, clung to you in a crowd”

Maita-Keppeler says of the track, “‘Loneliness’ was written about the loneliest two months of my life—a summer I spent learning woodblock printmaking in Japan. I felt so isolated, I missed everyone, and my mind went wild, turning into an animal I hardly recognize now. Still, there was a kind of romance to being so alone, a depth of desperate emotion that is hard to conjure up around people. This song is addressed to Loneliness as a lover, or a companion, and we wanted to capture that in the music video as well by giving whimsical shape to this entity.

Check out the song and video below. I Just Want To Be Wild For You is due out February 18 on Kill Rock Stars. You can stream the song here and find dates for the band’s upcoming tour below.

MAITA 2022 National Tour Dates:

2/18: Walla Walla, WA @ Billsville House Show

2/19: Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios

2/23: Santa Cruz, CA @ Moe’s Alley

2/24: San Francisco, CA @ Makeout Room

2/25: San Luis Obispo, CA @ A Satellite of Love

2/26: Los Angeles, CA @ Junior High

3/1: Phoenix, AZ @ Trunk Space

3/4: Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive

3/5: Fort Collins, CO @ Surfside 7

3/6: Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court

3/8: Reno, NV @ Holland Project

3/9: Davis, CA @ Veterans Memorial Theatre

3/10: Bend, OR @ Volcanic Theatre Pub

3/11: Seattle, WA @ Barboza

3/12: Bellingham, WA @ The Shakedown

3/18: Austin, TX @ Cheer Up Charlies - Kill Rock Stars SXSW showcase

3/23 - 3/27: Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Fest