Myriads - Finding Ourselves Again
Since her early days of musical performance as a college student in Charlottesville, Virginia, Maria DeHart has been on a continuous journey of building her sound. Starting in 2018, the Portland, Oregon-based artist has traveled through a few distinct phases, going from acoustic songwriter to loop-pedal expert to full band frontperson. Her debut release, an EP called “Win Some, Lose Everyone” that was released in October of 2023 on the east coast-based indie label Self Aware Records, is a brief yet strong run of filled-out songs that signals a development in DeHart’s self-actualization. While prepping for its release, DeHart came to the realization that this would be the perfect time to adopt an official name for her project, Myriads, which nowadays includes much collaboration and feels significantly bigger than just herself.
Myriads’ upcoming EP Find Ourselves Again is their first studio-recorded production, recorded and mixed by Joe Anderson at Helvete Studios in Portland, Oregon and mastered by Chris Baglivo at Jamtown Recording Studio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It’s an exploration in dream pop with a healthy dose of emo and folk influence. The EP comes in with a punchy start with the first track, a cheerful number called “Spider” wherein DeHart laments about seasonal affective disorder and winter restlessness over a wonderfully poppy melody and chorus-laden guitar chords. The next track, “Call It Quits,” is a thoroughly dreamy breakup song with lyrics that most everyone can resonate with: DeHart sings, “I know that sometimes it’s better to call it quits; I saw the opportunity to end it before you did.”
The EP takes an unexpected turn at the next track, “Folk Song in A,” which nods to DeHart’s songwriter influences that ultimately ground her music in the folk tradition. “5 am” is a driving track that can best be described as a love song, detailing the visceral experience of connecting with someone in an authentically vulnerable way. The track is layered with a variety of keyboard melodies and dreamlike, cascading vocals. Fittingly, the final track of the album, “Who Takes Care of You?,” is an emotionally hard-hitting song dripping with shimmering reverb that tells the story of what happens after the death of someone no one was expecting to lose. Overall, the EP is a study of love, happiness, depression, and the search for meaning in these universal human experiences. It’s Myriads’ most honest and thoughtful endeavor yet, and the new band is excited for what is to come.
