Uncertainty and Desire Bloom in Maya Hawke’s New Album MOSS

In her sophomore record, MOSS, Maya Hawke’s voice and music mirror the second track, “Bloomed Into Blue” as they undulate and arc through various shades of blue, cradling you like ocean waves. However, these waves are cut with the salt of regret, sadness, and longing. In thirteen songs, Hawke meditates on the transition into adulthood, her position in the public eye, and relationships.

One throughline of MOSS is an innate urge to be loved. From the whistling notes of “South Elroy,” where Hawke plainly states, “If you asked me to, I’d come crawling right back to you,” to the random list of “Backup Plan” in which she yearns, “I wanna be anything you've lost that you might be lookin' for.” The desire to feel love is woven into the very bones of this record, from Hawke’s parents to herself. Hawke clearly has a complicated relationship with love, and MOSS is a canvas where she explores and probes this, unafraid of vulnerability or imperfection.

In multiple interviews, Hawke has said that she aimed to create a fluid record, reusing chords and lyrics across songs. Additionally, she blends the final notes of different songs into the beginnings of others, effectively ushering in smooth transitions that further entrench listeners into the cool blues of MOSS. One such transition comes from the end of “South Elroy,” and is picked up in “Thérèse,” the first single from the album. Hawke chants, “Oh my god, I gotta slow down somehow,” which she picks up in an almost focused whisper as if it has become a mantra. If you don’t listen closely, you can miss the repetition expertly blended throughout. 

Maya Hawke during during her opening set for Faye Webster at the Brooklyn Bowl, captured Aug. 22, 2022 (Hustler Multimedia/Miguel Beristain)

Hawke says she drew inspiration from Taylor Swift’s album Folklore when writing and recording MOSS. She even mixed the album at Long Pond Studios, where Swift recorded Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, a documentary representation of her album. The melancholy overtones and natural beauty prevalent in both albums gives them a mystical and soothing aura. However, where Swift integrates the elaborate storytelling of fictional narratives, MOSS is based on Hawke’s experiences and steeped in her perception of herself. When Hawke draws on the imagination of others, like in “Thérèse,” which is based on the Balthus painting Thérèse Dreaming, these characters are still extensions of herself. She uses these alternate depictions as ways to explore different sides of her personality.

In the wake of her role as Robin Buckley in Stranger Things, Maya Hawke’s career has launched in a way that has put her more directly into the public eye. However, Hawke has never been a stranger to fame. The daughter of actors Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, Hawke uses MOSS to work through some of her resentment towards growing up with little privacy. In “Sweet Tooth,” she imagines the death of her childhood self, being resurrected in the music video in the care of her friends. Although Hawke loves and respects her parents, the spotlight she was thrown into as a result of their fame has marred an element of their relationship.

Hawke has often said that music gives her an outlet free of control or shame in which to express herself. Although she chooses to pursue a life of artistic expression, music is an escape unlike acting in that it comes from a place of true authenticity. Where playing a role is dictated by schedules and scripts, writing and recording music can offer a purer form of release. Unafraid to embrace this form of catharsis, Hawke poured herself into every chord and lyric of MOSS.