Maia Sharp -- Tomboy

Maia Sharp excels at airing her doubts and insecurities with such compassion, you'll be able to forgive yourself for your own. On Tomboy, Maia Sharp does this by exploring those in-between spaces: in gender, relationships, life paths. Sharp approaches all of this ambiguity with clear eyes – and no expectations for answers. Tomboy is a fine example of what it means to lean into the journey as a seeker, and how to be tender with yourself while not cutting yourself any slack.

The title track's easygoing charm belies the pain of being othered. Sharp's cheerful rejection of social norms explores early experiences with being somewhere in between – and what it took to be okay with that. After all, once you accept yourself, it gets much easier to trust the rest of the journey.

Which...of course, can lead to a reluctance to give up that independence. "Is That What Love Does" and "A Fool In Love Again" affectionately send up her own curmudgeonly attitude to falling in love – and the wondrous nature of starting all over again. "Edge of the Weatherline" declares a rejection of nostalgia (with a hint of some '80s pop interpolation) even as Sharp closes the album with a powerful cover of "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" – accompanied by Garrison Starr. Sharp's sly poking fun at herself amidst gorgeously rendered chamber pop creates an album suffused with warmth, even in its more somber moments like the achingly empathetic "Only Lucky."

"Any Other Way" sums up the albums themes with a hooky acoustic track. Sharp outlines the ways in which we are irrevocably changed by the people around us. In some ways, that's an act of destruction: "nobody survives a good conversation/nobody survives a good song." Even if the process of human interaction leaves some scars, Sharp proclaims that this is all how it should be. How else would we appreciate our own humanity?

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