Miami alumna Ashley Brandenburg returned to the music industry last Fall with “Golden Age,” an EP that explored her struggles with anxiety as she adapted to her new life as a mother. However, through her new single, “Maybe Everything,” Brandenburg was able to find hope in such trying times.
Brandenburg said “Golden Age” was a tiring process. After “pouring everything into those five songs,” her anxiety started to return after the holidays, and she was ready to take some time to recuperate.
“After releasing ‘Golden Age,’ I was kind of burnt out again … I literally got out of a therapy session and I was like ‘OK, I’m not doing music for the foreseeable future,” Brandenburg said. “I just need to concentrate on functioning and getting reacclimated for the new year.’”
However, Brandenburg’s plans were quickly disrupted after she was contacted by Scot Sax, the grammy-winning producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who helped her record “Golden Age.”
Brandenburg was experiencing writer’s block at the time, but she knew she wanted to go in a pop direction.
“He sent me this track he had been working on … I came up with a melody and I wasn’t digging it,” Brandenburg said. “Then we kind of paused a few days and he sent me this voice memo of him singing this random thing and I interpreted it in a way I liked. I sat down on the keyboard, turned the synth sounds on, and I was like ‘OK, this could be a real pop banger song … this sounds so good.’”
In contrast to the eclectic influences of “Golden Age,” “Maybe Everything” sports an obvious dance-pop inspired sound featuring pads of synths, drum machines and vocal harmonies that transport Brandenburg miles away from her country sound she has been known for.
Sax, who is based in Nashville, helped Brandenburg, living in Ohio, finish the lyrics to the song over FaceTime sessions.
“I think everyone’s feeling it,” Brandenburg said. “We were trying to write it, we're FaceTiming … and I’m like, ‘I could just scream from feeling everything and nothing at the same time. I’m numb, but I’m overstimulated, and I’m trying to keep my head above water.’”
The lyrics convey feelings just about everyone can relate to. With bad news disrupting our lives at seemingly every moment, it’s easy to become overwhelmed and start feeling everything at once. However, we get to a point where the constant flow of information starts to lose its effect.
Brandenburg noted how the song essentially wrote itself as she and Sax had conversations.
The pair collaborates well as songwriters, as the two have different approaches and ideas, but ultimately, according to Brandenburg, “balance each other out.”
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“Fine is relative,” Brandenburg said. “Everybody says they’re fine, but what is fine? My therapist says that normal doesn’t feel good. It’s normal, but it’s not good, and that slipped into the song as a lyric. It’s about the idea that you might be going through it, but it’s going to be fine.”
Brandenburg has spent years chasing a sound and image that didn’t represent her entire identity as an artist, and now, having lived more life and setting aside others’ expectations, she has found her sound with “Maybe Everything.”
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