Aya Maguire’s new single, Water Rise, is a thought-provoking, meditative tune that takes its time delivering content to its listener. Play the song without headphones in a space and feel the vibes change bit by bit into someplace more soothing, a bit more calm, a bit more peaceful.
One learns in this process that not everything one feels can become good music — honest emotion is just one necessary component.” – Aya Maguire
How did she get her start?
She began sharing her music at her college open mic nights in Portland, and later at cafés in Seattle before moving to Boulder in 2015. Aya’s music has been described as a confessional, melodic blend of Iron & Wine and Joni Mitchell, drawing influence from the talents of artists such as Hozier, Feist, and the Tallest Man on Earth.
Aya’s, Water Rise, attests to her statement in a variety of ways. Even as a child, she played music, but her career began when she picked up a guitar her senior year of high school, finding that songwriting soothes her soul more than poetry or music alone. Since then she has been using songwriting as a means of understanding the world and distilling emotion. Specifically in relevance to her new single, the message of the song is a work in progress, from the speed and delicacy of the instrumentals to a more compacted and condensed comprehension of the collision of message, emotion, and lessons learned. I can almost feel her absorbing every thought, every motion as a journey to the huge lesson at the end of her current situation. Most importantly, I can feel her acceptance and harmonizing with the fact that it will be a process, realizing that there are parts worth focusing on to produce good “fruit” or good music, and there are parts significant to that good music but not worth putting a major emphasis on. Her music takes me to a very philosophical place that challenges the rush and urgency of life, again, harmonizing with the rise, fall, and unpredictable tides of “the water.”
Check out her website, and follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.