Toronto-based producer, singer-songwriter, and versatile recording artist Jesse Maxwell discuss poignant themes in his new single, "nosedive."
Gravitating to music early on led Jesse Maxwell to study classical piano, play in coffee houses, and move to New York to join a local blues band. His experiences in NY helped Maxwell build his chips, only to move back to Toronto and create a band, releasing their debut album in May 2020.
As his solo career racked up over 700k streams on Spotify, there's truly no saying where Jesse Maxwell is headed next. His latest single, "nosedive," offers a special groove that Maxwell uses to reflect on past struggles with addiction after six years of sobriety. "Nosedive depicts the dichotomy of a high and comedown. The power of invincibility you feel on the way up and the crash on the way down," note Maxwell.
Jumping into "nosedive," this bluesy and hazy track opens with a downtempo drum beat and cloudy, psychedelic synths that place the track into this wavy and otherwordly atmosphere. As Jesse Maxwell's filtered and muffled vocals float their way in, he begins to touch on his experience of giving someone superpowers only for their wings to break in the end.
We truly appreciate the bravery and vulnerability Jesse Maxwell brought to this track, helping him propel forward on his journey to wellness while remembering the mental and physical turmoil of addiction. With added brass elements and the same lush, spacey groove, Jesse Maxwell continues to serenade us with the utmost tenderness and mystery until the very last beat.
Begin your venture to wellness with help from Jesse Maxwell's soulful and meaningful hit, "nosedive," now available on all digital streaming platforms.
Welcome to BuzzMusic, Jesse Maxwell. We want to thank you for creating such a unique and meaningful song like "nosedive." What inspired you to create a song about your experience with addiction?
Firstly thank you so much for inviting me here and giving me the platform to speak about this song. I’ll start by saying that writing this song was not intentional, addiction and recovery plays such a big role in my life, sometimes without me even realizing it, and it seeps its way into my art. I started using drugs as a way to “fake some sort of ease” to quote the first verse of the song or as people like to say “to take the edge off”, as a teenager. That edge was personal discomfort, but a high always gave me the feeling like I was a different person. That was part of the appeal for me.
Only after I got sober gave me the clarity of how invincible I felt during a peak of a high, and how broken I felt on the comedown, yet that cycle continued for years. I use my music as a form of therapy, diving into unfiltered thoughts and unadulterated themes, so as I was writing ‘nosedive’ the song pretty much revealed itself to me and it was one of those moments that was like “oh, we’re really talking about this right now, huh?”. My writing is never usually something that’s calculated or planned out, I just start writing and my mind takes it wherever it wants to go.
Why did you choose to create this mysterious, hazy, and psychedelic sonic atmosphere for "nosedive?” How does this enhance the song's theme?
For me, this instrumental is a perfect sonic depiction of the themes of the song. As you say, mysterious, hazy, and psychedelic. I don’t like creating music that sounds too “happy”, “sad”, or forces an emotion on my listener. I like creating music that sounds atmospheric, maybe a little eerie and a little suave, always bold, but completely up to interpretation and that gives me a lot of freedom when I create. I use the word “nocturnal” a lot when I describe my music. I think the instrumental really puts the listener in somewhat of a trance with the smooth wah-guitar, distant horns, and steady beat.
Did you produce "nosedive" completely solo or did you collaborate with anyone? What was your creative process like? What thoughts and feelings did you want your audience to experience when listening to the track?
The instrumental for nosedive was created with my co-producer Andrés Alzate. When we work together we basically go back and forth and try things until we’re both happy with the outcome. One of my favorite things to do is vocal arrangements. I’ll just sit there and layer 8 vocals on top of each other in harmony. This song is quite heavy on the vocal arrangement, with lots of soft lush harmonies that add to the song’s soothing quality. When someone listens to this song, I want them to clear their mind and get lost in it - to open their minds up to all the nuances of the track, and the textures that create the bed of sound. I want the listener to feel powerful when they listen to it, whether they have it on full blast or just in the background, I want it to set the mood.
What's next for you after “nosedive?”
I’m releasing my second full-length album, ‘LP2,’ which will be released in August of 2022. We also have some great visuals/music videos shot by the incredible; Adrian Altobelli and Eric Kingsbury, that will be accompanying the album rollout. We’re pressing vinyl, we’ll be playing more shows, so whatever happens; happens, the process is exciting. I hope if you’re reading this, you go check out nosedive and stay tuned for everything else that’s on the horizon.
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