mxmtoon Navigates Change and Its Complicated Feelings in 'liminal space'
Liminal space represents the places in between. These transitions can be physical, a long hallway between two rooms, or less tangible, like a big life change. The latter is much more difficult to navigate, and no one knows this better than mxmtoon. Her new album, liminal space, is a touching, vulnerable, and emotional examination of the concept it is named after.
The album’s opening track, “dramatic escape,” explores the desire for a big change to happen instantaneously. The theme of leaving continues in “i hate texas” where mxmtoon sings about how she needs change so desperately, needs to get away from her ex so desperately, that she’ll move to Texas, even though she hates the state.
While “dramatic escape” and “i hate texas” are about leaving on your own terms, “rain” focuses on leaving when you’re not necessarily ready. In an intimate TikTok, mxmtoon shared the story behind “rain.” In 2023, the singer’s mom was diagnosed with cancer, and she and her brother decided to move out of New York the following year. “It was about that feeling of moving to a city, discovering who you are outside of your hometown, and then having to go back to it before you’re ready,” she shared. The simple strumming guitar and mxmtoon’s sweet falsetto in the chorus perfectly capture this unique melancholy.
“When I’m writing music I tend to come in with like, a diary entry of something that I’ve been going through in recent memory”, the singer shared on Instagram. The fourth song on the album, “elevator,” kicks off a four-song run that truly feels like you’ve found yourself among the pages of mxmtoon’s diary. This section of the album, which includes the songs “just a little,” “vhs,” and “number one boy,” feels particularly deeply open and vulnerable. The theme of feeling lost, especially within yourself, is woven tight within the lyrics of these songs.
The opening drums of “passenger side” pull listeners out of the pit of pain that the previous songs created. Not only are the instruments brighter, but so are the lyrics. mxmtoon sings “Used to think your love would be the end / Then I went and found myself again.” The upbeat groove of the music continues in “the situation,” featuring Kero Kero Bonito, but is contrasted by the plucking guitar and introspective lyrics of “god?"
The album finishes with “now’s not the time,” featuring Luna Li, and “white out.” The former focuses on mxmtoon’s habit of putting aside her own wants and dreams for the benefit of those around her. “Wish I could let you know what's on my mind / But now's not the time,” she sings. The vulnerability of the lyrics is emphasized by a simple plucking guitar. “white out” continues the examination of self-destructive habits with the lyrics “Left to my own devices / I will tear me down.” Despite the dejected lyrics, the song, and album, end on a hopeful note with mxmtoon singing, “I'm not lost / Well I don't know / Let's say I'm taking the long way home / Taking the long way home.” She recognizes that even if her journey is long and complicated, she’s headed where she should be; she’s heading home.
Change and transitions are difficult, and at times unexpected. In liminal space, mxmtoon captures all the feelings that come with change, the good and the bad, and makes us all feel a little less alone in the turmoil of transition.
Listen to liminal space below:
