Maggie Miles - The Lack Thereof (2023) [Hi-Res]

If the 10 songs on Nashville-based alt-pop songwriter Maggie Miles’ new album The Lack Thereof feel like they take the listener on a particularly winding journey, that’s probably reflective of the fact that they’re the byproducts of Miles’ own winding journey over recent years. Chronicling her relationship with religion and the world around her after growing up in the church before distancing herself from it in her late teens, this sophomore album regularly feels like the work of someone figuring things out, all told from the other, clearer side of things—as if glancing in the rearview mirror while living in the ecstatic moment of self-realization.

That sense of ecstasy certainly comes through in the record’s production, all awash in infectious pop sheen while occasionally channeling hallmarks of ’90s popular rock and pop. In fact the music itself was a crucial component of Miles taking that next step in her personal development, which conveniently, in turn, pushed her creative development further: “Through writing these songs,” she shares, “I feel closer than ever to who I’m made to be. Which is just that: me.”