Navigating the complexities of love, turmoil, and the space between, Maggie Lindemann’s latest project ‘HEADSPLIT’ is a mesmerizing instance of sonic experimentation and self-realization, all backed by a stage-igniting brand of rock grandeur.
Stream: ‘HEADSPLIT’ – Maggie Lindemann
Everyone has a softer side, no matter how badass they might appear.
Maggie Lindemann is no stranger to tearing the house down. The 25-year-old rockstar’s sophomore album SUCKERPUNCH established her as a tour-de-force of everything loud and in your face. Bangers like “she knows it” and “how could you do this to me?” blew speakers upon release, inciting frenzies around the world during her 2023 global headline tour and adding to streaming totals lying over 1.5 billion in number.
Released on March 8, Lindemann’s latest EP HEADSPLIT is a reminder that even the biggest and boldest presences are human above all else. Touching on love and the uncontrollable headspaces that come with it, the singer offers an intimate brand of songwriting across eight songs that stand out among her discography, none worse for wear in terms of thrashing heads back and forth.
“It has a different vibe to it, I think,” Lindemann details about the project. “It’s funny because I’ve been saying it has a lighter and softer vibe, but everyone’s been saying it doesn’t, so I guess it doesn’t. But I think, lyrically, it’s a softer side of myself and a softer version of myself. It’s diving into a different part of my life that I haven’t really ever been comfortable to talk about. Which is just, you know, being in love and the feeling that comes with that. So I think it’s just a different side of me.”
Think your mind’s lost in commotion
All your fears are interwoven
Parts of you that have been broken
Bottle up all your emotions
Foreign feelings, wounds are healing
With new eyes to see
a light that guided me
Rip out my heart to give you life
Tear me apart, teary eyes
You’re the blood that
flows through my veins
Be the shield that takes all your pain
Rip out my heart to give you life
– “rip my heart out,” Maggie Lindemann
What makes HEADSPLIT so special are the massive amounts of experimentation complimenting the rawness and mania of the lyrics. There is not a spot at any point across the EP where a sound finds itself played out. From the orchestral hyperpop running “you hold my love” to the screamo core and gross 808s behind “deprecating,” the listener finds themselves strapped into a rollercoaster from the jump.
“It’s usually just what I’m listening to … I’m always in a different type of vibe,” Lindemann says about her creative approach on the EP. “I feel like for this one, I was super into electronic and hyperpop sounds. With ‘you hold my love,’ since the very first song I’ve ever made, I’ve always wanted to do songs with strings. I am super drawn to strings and I just think they sound so beautiful. I’ve always wanted to really get into that so I was finally able to do that with this song.”
Guard my heart from breakin’
I’ve seen the truth beneath the lies
Countless nights of achin’
A part of me was left to die
Trust has been my weakness
My soul has been too generous
For you, I’ll always risk it
An X is marked across your lips
You hold my love…
– “you hold my love,” Maggie Lindemann
The fearlessness to break sonic barriers and defy mainstream pop-rock is what has defined Lindemann’s career to date.
She is a world removed from that initial rise to stardom in 2017, when “Pretty Girl” was playing on any radio station you can think of. The person before us is an artist that creates for her own purposes, thriving off of confidence and gratitude.
“I have felt what it feels like to be inauthentic,” Lindemann reflects. “Even though there were amazing things that came with being inauthentic – obviously, I was doing really well; you know, my song was streaming and I had the opportunity to capitalize on that – the feeling that came with those things was a really shitty feeling.”
“For me, I’m the type of person who, in any aspect, chooses happiness over anything else. And if I’m not happy doing something, I want to change it and I want to fix that … I’m having so much fun doing what I’m doing. Maybe I don’t have like, you know, 800 million streams on my songs, but I love doing this and I think that the fans know it’s authentic and they also love it. The feeling I get when I see people moshing is the best feeling ever and I don’t think people can mosh to ‘Pretty Girl.’”
Lindemann is a rocker, and a powerhouse at that.
If you’re worried that HEADSPLIT strays too far from that path, don’t be. A cut like “hostage” is something Evanescence would be proud of, and the explosiveness of “taking over me” (which might just be the best song on this thing) would put any reservations to shame. For someone as pro-moshing as her, these will do the trick just fine.
TL;DR is HEADSPLIT is a dope EP, and Atwood Magazine was lucky enough to sit with Maggie Lindemann to dissect the project, chatting about everything from her past year to her production methods along the way. Find the interview below, and if you love the EP as much as we did, Lindemann will be performing it in whole at Los Angeles’ legendary Troubadour on May 28.
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:: stream/purchase HEADSPLIT here ::
:: connect with Maggie Lindemann here ::
Stream: “taking over me” – Maggie Lindemann
A CONVERSATION WITH MAGGIE LINDEMANN
Atwood Magazine: First things first – welcome to Atwood, Maggie! Considering how busy you must be with the release of your new EP, HEADSPLIT, we appreciate you taking the time.
Maggie Lindemann: Yeah, of course. Thank you for having me.
Last year must have been a roller coaster. At the end of 2022, you drop SUCKERPUNCH. You sell out a world tour. You know, making this EP that whole time has to be a lot of work. So I have to ask – what was your favorite place that you've visited on the tour, and what does it say about your work ethic as an artist to have made this EP throughout the whole process?
Maggie Lindemann: Ah, I think my favorites but on tour were Paris because I felt like they went really crazy; also, Germany was really cool because I’ve never been to Germany and they love rock music there. So I think it was just like a really cool experience. With my work ethic, I think it was a really challenging one to create just because I felt like I had exhausted so much of myself into the first two projects. It was definitely a different type of process. But, you know, it got done and it ended up being really cool.
And now we're here. Would you say it took more effort and took more out of you to make this project than your past projects?
Maggie Lindemann: Yeah, definitely. For sure.
Well, in any case, we're happy to have it and your fans are pumped that it’s here. What inspired his creation? You know, “HEADSPLIT” – dope name. Why the name, and what do you think this EP means to you?
Maggie Lindemann: It has a different vibe to it, I think. It’s funny because I’ve been saying it has a lighter and softer vibe, but everyone’s been saying it doesn’t, so I guess it doesn’t. But I think, lyrically, it’s a softer side of myself and a softer version of myself. It’s diving into a different part of my life that I haven’t really ever been comfortable to talk about. Which is just, you know, being in love and the feeling that comes with that. So I think it’s just a different side of me.
I kind of got that you were wearing your heart on your sleeve more so than you had been in your past music from the opener, “rip my heart out.” More so than any other song, it just framed the EP as an emotional pendulum swinging behind all these experiences. Would you say this is the deepest dive into Maggie Lindemann that your fans have ever gotten?
Maggie Lindemann: I think the deepest dive into this realm of my life, for sure.
You're notorious for not conforming to one sound, and that refusal to do so is more apparent than ever. I was blown away by the leans you took into hyperpop – the project kept you on your toes from front to back. It was a really, really fun listen, and I had a blast listening to it! What do you think led your creative direction this time around while making the EP?
Maggie Lindemann: I think it’s always pretty similar. It’s usually just what I’m listening to and also just … I don’t know, I’m always in a different type of vibe. I feel like for this one, I was super into electronic and hyperpop sounds. I’m super into glitch sounds lately, so definitely that. Then with “you hold my love,” since the very first song I’ve ever made, I’ve always wanted to do songs with strings. I am super drawn to strings and I just think they sound so beautiful. I’ve always wanted to really get into that so I was finally able to do that with this song.
Speaking of “you hold my love,” I was gonna say it's my personal favorite off the EP. It's so cool. You have that fill of, like, a minute where it's just straight percussion in between the first verse and the hook. When those drums hit the first time, I quite literally levitated out of my chair.
Maggie Lindemann: [laughs] Thank you.
As you said, it’s like nothing you've ever made before. You know, that choice is very bold in and of itself to just let those drums just play out like that and it worked beautifully. What led to that choice to let those drums play out?
Maggie Lindemann: I love instrumentals. I love classical music; I love when there’s no words to a song and you can really just get into the music. So, for me, I just felt like it was such a moment and I felt like it didn’t need anything there. When I listen to the lyrics and then hear it go into that, it gives you this certain feeling. You know, with the little notes I’m doing in between, I just think it gives this vibe of what I’m trying to say in the song; that feeling of like … I don’t know, it makes me wanna drive fast and it makes me happy. I felt like it needed that moment, and I like how long it goes. It does go for kind of a while, but I feel like it really dives into the vibe I’m trying to portray in the song.
I think letting it play that long was a great choice; it really sucks you into it. So, you know, glitch experimentation, a bunch of sounds that you’ve wanted to try in the past that you’re now getting around to – your style can't be put into a box, but you can always be counted on for the catchiest hooks ever. I remember. I was studying in London when I heard “she knows it” for the first time, and my friends hated me because I would always be shouting the hook at the top of my lungs in the kitchen making food at, like, 2:00 AM. I think “die for” is going to do that for me this time around; that hook has something about it. What's the point when you're working on a hook and you know that it's going to stick? I feel like you have a real knack for it.
Maggie Lindemann: I think it’s about key words or key phrases. Something I notice for me and in songs I like with a good hook is if it says a key word. So it’s like “find who you die for, that’s who you live for;” that’s kind of the key to this chorus. I feel like that’s what I always try to do when I’m writing a song. When I get to the chorus, I’m like “Okay, what’s catchy? What’s easy to say? What’s easy to remember?” And I feel like that’s when you find your best hook, because even when someone’s singing a song and they don’t even know the words, if they think they know what’s gonna come next – some people might say “oh, it’s easy,” but I think that is what people usually like because it’s easy to remember. They can scream it. It’s fun. And yeah, I like to keep the chorus pretty simple.
No need to overcomplicate it!
Maggie Lindemann: Yeah, exactly.
One thing that sounded extremely natural was “deprecating.” It makes you want to run through a wall, you know, making you think about that toxic ex-somebody with those 808s behind it to just hammer it home and make you run a mile a minute. It's awesome. How'd that song come to be?
Maggie Lindemann: So I did that song with Siiickbrain, and I went into that session being like “I don’t really have anything to talk about today; I don’t know what I want to talk about.” And she was like, “Oh, I do, I had this whole thing that’s going on,” and I was like, “okay, perfect,” because I had been kind of by her side through this whole situation. And even though it wasn’t my situation, I was there with her through it. So I kind of had an outside perspective of it. It was really cool because she was able to, like, go into her vibe, and then I was able to give my outside perspective.
For sure. It's a heavy song behind how high-octane it is. When you channel into personal experience on that deep of a level with that much weight behind it, does the difficulty in making the song present itself any further, or does it just motivate you to make the best song you possibly can?
Maggie Lindemann: Yeah, I don’t think it makes it harder. I think it motivates me and just makes me want to go crazy.
You and Siickbrain are long standing collaborators to begin with. Recruiting Siiickbrain to do those screamo viruses was always going to be the cherry on top. When you see you two on a song together, odds are it's going to be great. What makes that chemistry work so seamlessly?
Maggie Lindemann: I think we’re just friends in real life. We know each other really well. We get, you know, what we would say and what we want and say – we’re best friends. So it’s just easy.
Moving on to “hostage” – the first time I watched that music video, I was like “this is a scene straight out of Hereditary. It was really cool. It kind of exudes that panic of having nowhere to run. And, you know, that lyrics reflect that. Among a batch of profoundly personal songs, it stands out. What does this song specifically mean to you?
Maggie Lindemann: It’s just about being trapped in my own mind – the feeling that you can never escape your thoughts and this constant battle with yourself, needing reassurance from someone or needing someone to tell you everything’s gonna be okay, but still feeling like maybe it won’t be. Yeah, it’s just that internal battle.
Building on the music video – it seems very horror movie inspired. I wanted to ask if that’s the case, and if so, if you had to pick one horror movie and get rid of the rest, what would it be?
Maggie Lindemann: So it wasn’t really horror movie inspired. It was more like Rapunzel – I’m trapped in this house, but it’s more like I’m trapped in my own mind. But I do love horror movies and I like when everything has kind of a dark twist to it. So I was thinking of it like a dark Rapunzel. But my favorite scary movie is definitely the Saw franchise.
(shudders) Could never do that.
Maggie Lindemann: [laughs] Yeah, I love it.
Well, “hostage” is a really impressive cut. Being a fan of yours. I really love when you lean into that metal sound. The first time I listened to the demo of it, I was like, “This sounds like an Evanescence song.” It’s so hard. You're going to have a lot of people that are introduced to you by HEADSPLIT, and they might not have heard of you before, so they're going to click on your Spotify page. They're going to see “Pretty Girl” at your most-listened and they'll think there's no way those are the same person. You know, it's inspiring to see an artist break from the mainstream and really stay true to themselves and their sound because you reap what you sow. The reality is for every one of you, there’s a hundred artists that would’ve changed the cover art of SUCKERPUNCH when it got flak or changed their sound to begin with because they wouldn't want to polarize their fans. What’s helped you stay true to yourself after all these years?
Maggie Lindemann: I think that … I don’t know. I think authenticity is really important to me. I have felt what it feels like to be inauthentic. Even though there were amazing things that came with being inauthentic – obviously, I was doing really well; you know, my song was streaming and I had the opportunity to capitalize on that – the feeling that came with those things was a really shitty feeling. For me, I’m the type of person who, in any aspect, chooses happiness over anything else. And if I’m not happy doing something, I want to change it and I want to fix that. So for me, I’m having so much fun doing what I’m doing. Maybe I don’t have like, you know, 800 million streams on my songs, but I love doing this and I think that the fans know it’s authentic and they also love it. The feeling I get when I see people moshing is the best feeling ever and I don’t think people can mosh to “Pretty Girl.” [laughs]
“hostage” is one of those songs. You know the Wall of Death at Warped Tour? I think that's the one that does it.
Maggie Lindemann: No, I know. I’m so excited to perform these songs and see the crowd.
When are you planning on going on tour next?
Maggie Lindemann: To be announced. I don’t know if I’m gonna tour this year but I definitely have some shows coming up and we’re gonna do some fun stuff. It’ll be cool.
The last song I wanted to talk about is the closer, “taking over me.” It seemed like a perfect way to cap off the album with how high energy and all over the place a lot of the songs were. The guitars and drums set fire to your vocals; Josiah gives the best verse ever and you guys mesh like bread and butter. It's very, very high quality. Were you saving the best for last?
Maggie Lindemann: Definitely saving the best for last. I felt like it was just, like, the biggest explosion and I definitely felt it needed to be last. And whenever I’m making the tracklist, I always want to spread everything out. So like, you know, “deprecating” has screams and is far away from “taking over me.” I don’t know. I just like to spread everything out so it’s a good listening experience. I don’t want a song to come after another that kind of has the same feeling to it. And um, yeah. This is a cool EP. I’m excited for it to come out.
For sure. To wrap things up – here we are in 2024, the EP is out on March 8th. You have a lot to look back on. If you had the opportunity to talk to yourself a couple years ago, what would you tell that version of yourself now?
Maggie Lindemann: Oh my gosh, I don’t even know. There’s so many things I would tell myself. But I think I would just tell myself to be authentic to myself. Everything’s gonna work out. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.
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:: stream/purchase HEADSPLIT here ::
:: connect with Maggie Lindemann here ::
Watch: “taking over me” – Maggie Lindemann, Jasiah
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© Samantha Simmons
© Samantha SimmonsHEADSPLIT
an EP by Maggie Lindemann
