Last week Maya Laner—bassist and co-vocalist in Porches, and (Sandy) Alex G collaborator—released her debut solo EP Edge Of, under the moniker True Blue. The release is a confident step into the spotlight for the Berkeley-born and Brooklyn-based musician. She’s a supporting actor in Porches, filling in the spaces around frontman Aaron Maine’s melancholy Sturm und Drang—in a lead role, she makes a strong case for her own bedroom-pop chops and more sanguine emotional stance.
The standout from the five track EP is the winsome ballad “Tell Me Texas.” The song’s deft arrangement of funky hand drums, synth horns, and layers of Eastern-sounding strings coalesce into a fluid groove with Balearic overtones. There’s even a ticking clock deep in the mix, a throwback to the Air France classic “Maundy Thursday.” The polychromatic palette evokes a sense of eclectic poise, like the kind of person who can turn clashing prints into a chic outfit without a second thought.
Laner’s voice ties it all together—it’s a breezy falsetto accented with a touch of lilting Gwen Stefani snark. “Was it tears in his eyes,” she sings, “Or just a Visine lie?” Burn! In Laner’s world, romance isn’t something to depend on—it’s just another passing mood.
