Max Blansjaar is a 21-year-old European indie pop prodigy based in New York. His two EPs are playful and distinct hints at his future work, including "Anna Madonna," the lead single off his next EP, "False Comforts."
Blansjaar was born in Amsterdam, raised in the U.K. and now records in Brooklyn. He first emerged on the Oxford music scene in 2018 at only 15 years old, performing lo-fi indie pop music and promoting shows at all-ages venues.
After his debut, Blansjaar released two EPs of laptop recordings on the label Beanie Tapes and continued to perform in Oxford, filling up pub backrooms and festival tents with excited fans. He also participated in recording sessions for BBC Radio Oxford and garnered editorial support from Clash Magazine, Bandcamp Daily, BBC and Nightshift Magazine.
Blansjaar has found inspiration in the cities he's lived in and artists like Beck, Courtney Barnett, Daniel Johnston, Darwin Deez, Jeffery Lewis, The Velvet Underground and The Magnetic Fields.
His first EP, "Spit It Out!," was released in 2018. One of the lead singles and the first track on the record is "You're Always on My Mind," a crossover between punk and electronic pop. The heavily distorted guitar and elements of techno, including record scratches and synth themes, create a chaotic musical tapestry. The following track, "Standardized Collision," maintains a similar energy but with more structure.
Standout songs on Blansjaar's debut EP are "Stage 1" and "Marble Arch." The former begins with intense yet simple and rhythmic drums. The distorted vocals match the punk guitar to lend the whole song a fried quality, and the relationship between guitars allows the two instruments to punctuate certain moments for each other. "Marble Arch" is a much slower track, featuring simple and airy guitar melodies and an echoing vocal recording, which sounds as if it's being sung into a vintage microphone to a vast, empty room. The slightly somber vocals and hopeful instrumentals create a tactful balance with which to end the EP.
The artist's second EP, "Fantasy Living," was released in 2019 and focuses on a higher concept. Each song contributes a different aspect to the idea of "fantasy living," from the fast-paced dance track, "The Shame That I Wear," to the heavily-edited and electronic "Parallel Lines." Songs like "Going Backwards" create beautiful ambient energy through slow, swelling rhythms and his characteristic techno energy. The EP ends with "Garden Song," a haunting and disorienting track emblematic of bands like Lincoln, and is a fitting end to the trippy record.
These two EPs were self-recorded in Blansjaar's bedroom, which created a good foundation from which to grow. For his upcoming release, the artist sought to expand the horizons of his intricate demos by collaborating with producers Katie Von Schleicher and Nate Mendelsohn. The first track off that EP is "Anna Madonna."
"It's not easy out there," Blansjaar said in a provided press release. "It hurts! Sometimes you want to lash out, renounce all ties, retreat into yourself … ‘ Anna Madonna' is a manifesto to say that we stay standing by holding each other through the storm. There is no cosmic conspiracy, no grand plan --- frightening, tiresome, but above all a reminder to hold on to what we have. I wrote the words on a Post-It note which I stuck to my bedside table and left there until a melody appeared."
The track maintains a style similar to that of the rest of Blansjaar's work. Still, it emphasizes a pop sound more than the alternative, punk energy of his previous records. The higher quality of recording facilities gives the track a fuller platform on which Blansjaar thrives.
"Anna Madonna" is one of 10 songs recorded at Von Schleicher's home studio over 10 intense days. The collection of songs makes up "False Comforts," a record that feels grounded in all of the places Blansjaar has called home. The album will be released on June 21 through the Beanie Tapes label and will be a further expansion on the delightful energy of its leading single.
