Maeve is a multi-hyphenate artist with a unique footing. Growing up in the Cayman Islands with Irish heritage, Maeve (aka Arianna Broderick) has been inspired by iconic visual artists such as Kate Bush, Bjork, and Imogen Heap from a young age. She also has a strong DIY spirit that fuses through her work, making her music — from its original concept to its production and recording — all the more authentic.
“Manic Pixie Dream Girl” is Maeve’s newest musical unveiling to the wider world. Like her inspirations are renowned for, the track embraces a sense of creativity and focusses on the theme of rebirth and becoming the main character. Maeve explains in a press release, “The manic pixie dream girl is a trope that refers to a specific female character in film. These female characters exist to help often lonely, depressed men to live their life and further their character development. This song is about feeling like this manic pixie dream girl trope in real-life, realising it and then rejecting it.”
From its offset, this track is both domineering and assertive. Off-kilter experimental electronic beats pair with Maeve’s ominously repeated vocals, grabbing your attention with force. The verse sections continue this theme with the inclusion of sharp drum beats and Maeve’s monotonous vocal delivery providing an edgy, minimalistic feel.
However, the dynamics shift in the choruses. These sections drop in intensity and allow for an airier feel yet the lyrics remain resolutely firm: “Not your holy ghost / Not your antidote / Not your cameo / I’m the god damn show.”
As Maeve proclaims, she is the entire show for the remainder of the track, capturing the center of attention and rejecting the MPDG trope with her “head rolled back like Caesar.”
“Manic Pixie Dream Girl” is a fittingly dramatic introduction to new innovative and boundary-less artist Maeve. Power and flair shines through her bold new track and you get the feeling that Maeve’s next step will be even more powerful than her first.