Maggie Rogers returns with a new single “Love You For a Long Time”, her first release since her groundbreaking full-length Heard It In A Past Life. “Love You For a Long Time” came to life before “Light On”, the lead single from the album, yet she never finished the track.
Circling back to it several months later, she shares the song with fans as an ode to the relationship and moments she’s shared with them since she released Heard It In A Past Life.
In classic Maggie Rogers style, the track opens with a vocal loop that carries you through the entire track. Vocals and guitars kick in all at once, transforming the track from eerily vacant to joyously full. The guitars feel playful, moving through the sound space with distinct ease. The whole sound feels free–each note moves gently onto the next. For lack of a better word, Maggie’s composition has a unique vibe-iness to it. You feel yourself grooving to each note and getting lost in each verse. The songs don’t vary from one verse to the next, yet feel distinct, flowing easily from one stage to the next.
Vocally, nobody sounds quite like Maggie. She uses her vocals as an instrument in and of themselves, accompanying each verse with looped vocal riffs on virtually every track she’s released. Here, the story is no different, but it feels simpler than past releases like “Alaska”, which featured intricate looping and layering. The simplicity in “Love You for a Long Time” is refreshing. Perhaps the most beautiful part of the track comes as the first verse moves into the chorus. Singing, “And in the morning when I’m waking up / I swear you’re the first thing that I’m thinking of,” Maggie hits the higher notes not only with ease, but also with character. She somehow makes each note sound joyous and full of life. One of the most interesting parts of the song comes later in the bridge, when Maggie moves into more monotonous lines, “Oh / Don’t slow down now / Come and break me down…” The contrast between these lines and the rest of the song is evident: with the pace of the singing speeding up, each word blends into the one before. Each line feels like it spirals down further and further, until the song catches you at the chorus again. By the time the chorus hits again, you find yourself singing along to it after just one listen to the song. “Love You for a Long Time” would fit seamlessly onto Heard It In A Past Life, but we’re lucky she never got the chance to release it. As a single, “Love You for a Long Time” gets the chance to shine on its own–a treat for fans who are waiting eagerly for her next album.
