Recommendations of the Editorial team
In the latest edition of Song Shuffle at ROLLING STONE Maya Hawke a real leap of faith. Speaking to ROLLING STONE at SXSW, she didn’t just share a playlist, she opened up her entire iTunes library – saying, “I’ve had this for a very long time.”
First up was Sean Kingston’s “Fire Burning,” to which Hawke asked, “Has there ever been a bigger, better hit than ‘Beautiful Girls’?” Her verdict: “This was one of my favorite early songs to grind at eighth grade parties with my braces on. And it was great. A wonderful time.”
Raffaella’s “Nasa’s Fake” also appeared in the library – Raffaella is a friend of Hawke, who described her as having a “voice that could shatter glass, in the best sense of the word.” Also: Father John Misty’s “I Went to the Store One Day”, which Hawke says inspired her recently released, outstanding fourth album “Maitreya Corso”.
Lucky hits and recommendations
The shuffle also included “Breezeblocks” by Alt-J (“I got really lucky,” Hawke commented dryly) and “Seaside” by The Kooks.
When asked what song she would recommend viewers add to their playlist, Hawke replied: “Well, everyone on my team and at my label would probably kill me if I didn’t name my own song – it’s called ‘Devil You Know’, it’s out now and it’s from my new album.”
Hawke also spoke about going back on tour after three years: “Touring really scares me. I get incredibly nervous.” And further: “I notice that my stage fright gets worse with age. When I was younger, I didn’t have any. I just always had to go to the toilet before I went on stage.”
Intimacy instead of spectacle
Still, Hawke hopes to “build a touring experience that will hopefully give me the stamina and strength to want and be able to do it more often.” The singer added: “I bring a level of intimacy to it and really try to develop a show that is the show I would go to myself – not the show I think other people want to see. We’ll see if that works.”
