THE PICNIC: Macey Music Review
Rat World is excited to be collaborating with Marmalade to put on The Picnic - a mini music festival on November 16th that aims to showcase upcoming bands, platform music journalism, and put on a fun night to celebrate our local music landscape and arts scene!
Five music journalists are paired up with one of the five bands performing at The Picnic. These Rat Journalists will introduce the bands via a music review and then will conduct a KEXP-style live interview on the night of the festival!
</3 ≠ MACEY. Heartbreak can’t sum this popstar up
Harry Parsons’s big brown eyes have seen a lot. In his twenties, he lost both his father Ian and the familiarity of a long term relationship. He is the voice of MACEY, named after his favourite Green Day song called ‘Macy’s Day Parade’. Billie Joe Armstrong sings in it, “I'm thinking 'bout a brand new hope, the one I've never known” over a simple acoustic guitar rhythm. His legendary lyricism flows into MACEY’s craft, who makes it apparent that music doesn't always need more noise, especially when the words speak for themselves.
And so, MACEY is learning ‘how to say goodbye’ in his latest EP of the same name. His four new songs make a slight departure from their pop predecessors from his 2023 debut album THE LOVERS. They are more vocally focused, and instrumentally bare and patient. MACEY’s voice is tonally gentle yet has a certain scratch to it that isn't necessarily audible. how to say goodbye also rebrands into black and white visuals that suggest timelessness and a sobering seriousness. It is distinct from his beautifully colourful and at times hedonistic THE LOVERS.
“Don’t let a little heartbreak be the sum of all your parts” he belts in the folk-centric ‘before you have to go’. A sentiment made by his father, MACEY reflects on his “bittersweet” reconnection with his old man. “All the bad things fall through the cracks,” he told the audience at his most recent performance of the song at Auckland’s Freida Margolis. He’s talking about the silver linings that emerge despite any history of tension. Guitar arpeggios propel a forward momentum despite the stagnation that grief can freeze us in. The music video loops a scene where MACEY performs to an empty bar, startled by its bright lights. He strokes a static pool table, savours a beer that foams upon his upper lip and flips through a jukebox on his lonesome, taking in the ritual of masculine pastimes on his own. Final falsetto backing vocals are like warm hands on your shoulders as he comes to claim his father’s advice as his own.
‘Our Last Trip to the Beach’ on THE LOVERS has made me cry. MACEY’s old song is told like a story and ultimately soothes wounds with its balm of a choir. His latest songs wield similar weapons. In ‘more than a minute’, MACEY pleads for time and understanding from an ex: He needs space to heal from the hurt that “bruises to the bone”. When he clarifies that he fears healing might take “more like forever”, he’s building upon previous settings to deftly communicate a thinking process. This shows how strong his songwriting really is. He describes his old relationship as a coffee shop “where the drinks go cold”, mentioning the place where their “two hearts” used to “beat fast”. A wide expanse for reverb helps express the space he needs from his ex, and perhaps the chasm he now feels in loss. Curiously, it’s the track on the EP that feels like it has the most movement in its percussion and sustained chords. Near the end, backing vocals create a singable anthem. They offer outstretched fingers that grasp onto my damp shirt to tell me I’m not alone in it all. I think ‘more than a minute’ is a tragic love letter that needn’t demand for repeat listens, because it will be obliged.
‘wear so well’ seems to describe an inconsistent character to be like fast fashion that has a patch sewn “out of place.” In the song, MACEY critiques a past lover for their back-breaking fronting of ego and their shifting “trends”. “You cheap imitation…” he stings over gentle strumming. Surprisingly, he finishes the sentence with “...somebody I used to wear so well”. His judgement on this person suddenly becomes a flipped mirror as a faint, lower octave joins in. This may echo the notion that your view of a person’s shortcomings can often resonate with considerations for your own flaws, especially when “tangled” in their sheets.
The slow burner ‘midnight lover’ captures a sensual feeling of caution amongst irresistible temptation. “I’d just been through quite a strange fling, where neither of us were able to be there for each other at the right time, sort of a hot and cold relationship”, MACEY shares. Decidedly ill-equipped to resist this new source of excitement, he paints himself as a powerless and thrill-seeking “child” who is whisked away on multiple adventures. A “languid” and endearing beat behind a repetitive chorus suggests the suspense MACEY feels when he asks himself, “Are you gonna break my heart?”
Although the monochrome music video takes from film noir, MACEY envisioned ‘midnight lover’ as an emotional equivalent to Van Gogh’s Terrace At Night. The 19th century painting’s deep blues and engorged yellows freeze a nighttime denizen scene in France. It pulls your eyes towards the soft throat of a darkening alleyway, before tilting them upwards at a curtain of stars. The folk simplicity and boldness of ‘midnight lover’ is just as inviting and deceptively expansive. Positioning the chorus as a question to his lover helps us dive into the careful mind of MACEY, whose powerlessness against her charm reflects my own inevitable indulgence in his music.
Just as popstar Shawn Mendes has shifted into vulnerable folk storytelling despite industry and fan expectations, MACEY fearlessly delves into the same — by looking inward. how to say goodbye is a small but consequential collection of songs about the experiences of a troubled romantic and a grief-stricken son. Final farewells in love and life are devastating and relatable, but MACEY seems adamant on keeping this as only a short chapter in his literal and figurative discography. The singer songwriter demonstrates soulful music that transcends genre, with a voice and craft that create a healing presence in your bedroom and heart.
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Catch MACEY live at The Tuning Fork, 16th November Saturday for The Picnic Mini Music Festival! And don’t forget to use the code "macey" to reveal a secret $10 ticket…