Mecha Maiko - NOT OK (2022)

Mecha Maiko (AKA Hayley Stewart) is back with third album NOT OK, which could end up changing the entire landscape of synthwave. The Toronto-based artist has always stood out among synthwave acts for her inventive, dogma-smashing approach to the genre. Her 2018 debut, Mad But Soft, and EP Okiya, from 2019, showed an artist who could produce experimental yet catchy, complicated yet minimalist songs that evoke the delicate and often turbulent relationship between humans and machines. She continued that streak with Let’s in 2019, and loaded it with early ‘90s house and contemporary electro-pop elements that took the songs to dark dance floors splashed in neon pink. It was deeply human but inherently mechanistic.

A lot has happened in the world since then, and NOT OK reflects that — even if the foundation of some of its songs stem from that pre-pandemic, post-Let’s era. Although she started work on the album at rural escape she referred to as “Synthpop Farm,” surrounded by a cornucopia of flora and fauna, she finalized the record in 2021 in Toronto with engineer and producer Jack Marko.

NOT OK tackles the scandalous level of trials the world faces today, including “bogus conspiracy theories, racism, sexism, violence, and environmental destruction,” she says. However, she does this via a kinetic blend of dance-heavy rhythms, captivatingly melodic synths, and an array of experimental sonics that together keep listeners engaged throughout the record’s 50-minute run.

“Hopefully it can validate some of the feelings and frustrations that others have been grappling with, and to serve as a reminder that we don't have to accept things as they are,” Mecha Maiko says. “I also hope it inspires people to deepen their connections to nature, and see just how beautiful life off-screen is.”