SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MAYA HAWKE – MAITREYA CORSO

MAYA HAWKE
MAITREYA CORSO
MOM + POP MUSIC

Maitreya Corso is the latest release from Maya Hawke, daughter of Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke. Best known for her acting work on “Stranger Things,” she’s also a singer-songwriter who made her musical debut in 2019. Since then, she’s released a steady stream of work, with this being her fourth album.

Opening song “Love of My Life” starts the album off nicely with a warm, low-fi bass line. It’s a mid-tempo track reminiscent of ‘90s alternative band that dog. Although her voice isn’t anything particularly special, she is aware of her limitations as a vocalist and opts to talk-sing her way through the song in an endearing way.

The intimate mood is dropped with the second track “Devil You Know,” which uses a vocoder sound effect. It’s a risky choice to use on a folk-pop album, and doesn’t quite work, especially since she uses the talk-singing style heavily on this track.

“Last Living Lost Cause” is an ethereally pretty song that returns to the album’s promised folk-pop stylings. Dropping the talk-singing for a beat, her voice floats like chiffon in the wind over the chorus. The alliteration in the title rolls nicely off the tongue and feels natural when she sings it. Though Hawke cites ‘70s musicians like Paul Simon and Joni Mitchell as influences, this track feels more Taylor Swift-like than anything from those artists.

“Bring Home My Man” is simple, all plucked guitar strings and whispery vocals. Its sing-songy melody makes it sound reassuring and a bit like a lullaby, something one might sing to a lover just before falling asleep after a long day. By keeping it simple, she allows the emotion of the song to speak, and it feels authentic and genuine.

Then there’s “Great Minds,” a‘80s pop-influenced song about making one’s own path in life, this is the least self-aware of the bunch. Lyrics like “I pepper you with questions when we’re out for a walk/I still neatly fit inside your shadow” hint at Hawke’s experience of being raised by the stars of Kill Bill and Before Sunrise, but don’t fully address the weight of her famous parents’ legacy. A line about striking out on her own and “sleeping on a mattress next to a toy piano” feels disingenuous given the context of her privileged upbringing. It is indeed possible to meaningfully address the trials and tribulations of being the child of famous people even if your last name isn’t Wainwright or Minnelli, but Hawke doesn’t do it successfully on this track.

Interestingly, her general approach to lyrics accidentally displays the influence of her cinematic lineage. She tends to describe situations not through internal emotions but by external textures: the clothes left on the floor, the New York City sidewalks, a borrowed fur coat worn on transit. She narrates the visual aspects of moments and memories in detail, which allow them to run through the listener’s mind like a favourite movie scene.

Maitreya Corso has some enjoyable tracks, and in some moments, it really shines. But it doesn’t feel like the work of someone who has anything they’re dying to express. It’s simply a pleasant series of reflections on life and love that will make for nice dinner music.

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