Maggie Lindemann Releases Her Debut Album After 7 Years in the Making
Words by Hannah Kozak / Photos by Idan Barazani
Maggie Lindemann isn’t the girl she’s assumed to be. After breaking through with her single “Pretty Girl” in 2016, Lindemann was forced into a pop-girl box and expected to fit a narrative untrue to herself by music executives that saw her as merely a talented, pretty girl. Now in 2022, Lindemann is an independent artist and finally making the music she’s always wanted to make.
Her debut album SUCKERPUNCH is a perfectly curated nod to 90s alternative rock and pop punk with present day elements. The album opens with a cinematic introduction track, “intro / welcome in,” to help set the tone for the album. It creates an invitation to Lindemann’s listeners and shows that she wants to create an experience through her music. The song begins with piano and transitions to heavy, distorted guitars (reminiscent of what you’d almost hear in a metal mix) into the second track, “take me nowhere.” The track is heavier than most singles from the album; it’s this kind of surprise immediately from Lindemann that makes a listener antsy to see what’s next and hear the remainder of the album.
SUCKERPUNCH singles include “self sabotage,” “break me! ft. Siiickbrain,” and “cages.” Both “self sabotage” and “cages” have a pop punk feel to them, but “break me!” has a heavier, more industrial influence. Lindemann and Siiickbrain have collaborated before on “GASLIGHT!” off of Lindemann’s 2021 EP PARANOIA. The two work incredibly well together, and Lindemann has noted that the two are best friends in real life. The two clearly have a chemistry that makes creating music magical. Siiickbrain adds a tiny bit of unhinged energy and rawness to Lindemann’s tracks; it pairs nicely with Lindemann’s higher and smoother voice.
Before the release of SUCKERPUNCH on September 16th, we got to chat briefly with Lindemann about her most recent projects and her identity as a woman in the alternative/rock scene.
Q: How do you feel you’ve changed as an artist/songwriter since you released PARANOIA? In what ways do you think SUCKERPUNCH and PARANOIA are related?
A: I think PARANOIA and SUCKERPUNCH are hugely connected. It’s just like the evolution of PARANOIA (SUCKERPUNCH is), so I don’t think that they’re two completely different things. I think maybe one is just an elevated version. I think as a songwriter, for PARANOIA, I was getting into it and seeing what I liked, what I don’t like; how I like writing, how I don’t like writing; how I like using words, wordplays, all that stuff. I think writing SUCKERPUNCH I just really tapped into that, and I let myself be more free to say the things I wanted to and freely create instead of trying to figure it out. It was kind of figured out just doing it.
Q: What does female/feminine identity mean to you, especially as someone in the rock/alternative scene that is still heavily male-dominated?
A: I think being a woman in anything is cool, but I think being a woman in rock music is so cool. I mean, we have Gwen Stefani, Evanescence, Paramore, Garbage, Hole, there’s so many people that were women leading bands; women were the forefront. I think that I have a lot of really cool people to look up to. It’s hard at times and a struggle at times because it is such a male-dominated genre, and I feel like sometimes people don’t give credit where potentially credit is due. I think [being a woman in music] is cool and I enjoy it a lot. Like I said, I have a lot of really cool women to look up to; it’s really cool to be able to follow in their footsteps, or at least try to.
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