Flower Face - “Maniac”
Photo by Matteo Gueli
Montreal-based singer-songwriter Ruby McKinnon, aka Flower Face, is back on the blog with “Maniac,” a stripped-back and intimate journey through catharsis.
Pressing play on “Maniac” invites the remarkably warm tones of an acoustic guitar into your ears, with a sound that is so raw you will swear that it is being performed right in front of you. Across the top of this lo-fi canopy of finger-picking, McKinnon offers an angelic vocal performance, bearing an emotional weight that will most assuredly resonate with all listeners.
The gentle nature of the vocal delivery is juxtaposed with lyrics that are quite somber, including standout lines like “I want you to suffer, now what does that say about me?” and “Your misery is leaking all over my bedroom.” Suffice to say, “Maniac” nails our niche for darker subject matter, but it also helps that the arrangement is lined with glorious laters of vocal harmonies.
Some deep, round notes from a bass emerge around the song’s midpoint, anchoring “Maniac” to the ground, with the subtlest hints of shaker percussion providing a bit of momentum to the back half. In less than two and a half minutes, the song will weave its way into your chest, potentially opening some forgotten wounds, which just so happens to fit quite perfectly within our wheelhouse.
About “Maniac,” McKinnon adds: "It's very tongue-in-cheek. I wrote it as this upbeat little indie pop song that contrasts the uncomfortable honesty of the lyrics. Like how sometimes you have to laugh so you don’t scream and cry. It’s me admitting a lot of unpleasant truths about myself, laying it all out on the table and saying yeah, I suck in a lot of ways, but I can acknowledge and accept that, which is not the case for a lot of people."