SPOTLIGHT
SPOTLIGHT
☆ BY CAMRYN FINN ☆
FOR ATHENA MARIA MUSIC ISN’T JUST A CAREER, IT’S A TIMECAPSULE— From a childhood car ride to the zoo to family performances with her cousins to songwriting sessions in her high school bedroom, her memories are earmarked by not only what was going on in the foreground but what soundtrack was playing in the background.
“A lot of stuff that I create comes from a mosaic of the things that I'm currently listening to,” Maria said. “I could put on a song that I wrote three years ago and know exactly what I was listening to at that point in time.”
The Miami-based singer-songwriter has found a home in music since childhood and has many home videos to prove it. From performing in musical theatre from a young age to finding songwriting inspiration from fanfiction, she has used music as an outlet through many chapters of life, growing up and evolving around her own lived experience.
No example of this evolution is more clear than in her first released single “Secret Lovergirl.” The song itself went through three iterations, a case study in the lifespan of a relationship all using the same lyrics. At different points in her career the song represented Maria’s hope for a new burgeoning relationship to the hatred and sting after that relationship had ended. The eventual track that was selected for release was somewhere in the inbetween.
“I feel like it had the most history,” Maria said. “it felt the most nuanced in what I was feeling. I felt that it was the best way I could describe that relationship that I had with that person.”
Since then, Athena Maria has released four additional singles all varied yet personal. She has a diverse menu of musical inspirations: from consistent favorites of Harry Styles and Remi Wolf to rotating appearances from U2, Kacey Musgraves and Conan Gray. Each of these artists have left breadcrumbs throughout her discography and her all-you-can-eat genre buffet is on full display in her upcoming debut EP Breakfast at Midnight.
Released on October 16, Breakfast at Midnight has been years in the making. Athena always knew she wanted to venture into larger bodies of work but after years of collecting and cultivating songs, picking just a few to feature was a challenge. The turning point came through a late night conversion with her mother who suggested the title after hearing some of the tracks Athena was considering.
Much like Athena’s other work, the five-track-EP is varied: with the hard rock, grunge aesthetic of “Lemon Juice” to the vulnerable acoustic strums of “If I Told Me To” and everything in between. While the musical tapestry is diverse, the throughline is the theme of dealing with vices, temptations and unpredictability.
While Athena’s songs may be based on specific personal instances, she asserts that they are universal and hopes everyone can find something to substitute.
“I don't want to tell exactly what each song is about because some of them are so niche and specific that people are never going to be able to relate to it,” Maria said. “I think in the way that it's written, people can relate to it with their own vices and put their own struggles and things in the place of what I was struggling with.”
