photo credit: Laura E. Partain
written by Maria Arroyo
Singer/songwriter Maya de Vitry recently released her second album, How To Break A Fall. She shares her story from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The album has moments of fun and excitement while tapping into some of those deeper emotions that we sometimes like to suppress until we can no longer feel them. De Vitry says that “this album is about losing your balance, and landing without breaking yourself or breaking your spirit… The stories on this record are also about how to get on your feet, how to move, and how to keep trusting yourself to take another step.”
“Better and Better” showcases her beautiful voice as she sings with such emotion and honesty. There is a lot of tension within the song and makes for a live-sounding recording. I love the vulnerability in her sound, and in her lyrics as well. A song that really highlights her strong lyrical skills is “Bread for the Circus.” Her vocals are so interesting, and it’s refreshing to hear someone different.
Her next song “Don’t Know When” introduces this beautiful melody and piano accompaniment. She makes this song hit so close to the heart and really feeds off a more emotional perspective. The same can be said for “Reverie” which feeds off of those same emotions, and “Gray”, which showcased a darker lyrical side to de Vitry.
Another huge thing that I admire about this album is the ability to pull inspiration from many different genres to create a diverse sound. This album touches everything from the contemporary soul to rock and jazz.
“Something In The Way She Moves” showcases a more jazzy side to her, while “Revolution” and “Open the Door” does exactly that, and brings you into a world of high energy rock! For a second, I thought my Spotify glitched and started auto-populating random songs, but then realized it was still her! There were so much hype and energy, and definitely showcases just how versatile of a singer and songwriter she is!
The last few songs really touched my heart because of her ability to tell a seamless story through songwriting. “In The Meantime, I Love You” created such a mesmerizing story that I could make out perfectly and really relate to, whereas “Joy” leaves more to the imagination, but helps with its tension within the dynamics of the song. De Vitry says that the “close of this album is not necessarily any place of resolution. There’s still motion, there’s still growing to do, and healing to do… When we’re in the thick of brokenness, or healing, it can be so difficult to perceive that we are still moving closer and closer to knowing joy again. But we are often moving forward, somehow.”
Maya de Vitry has truly created a thing of beauty. It has everything from emotional filled ballads to fun and funky dance songs. She really stretched herself musically and it has 100% paid off!
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