Portland act MAITA will release their new album I Just Want To Be Wild For You February 18 on Kill Rock Stars. The new collection finds songwriter Maria Maita-Keppeler digging into that crippling oxymoron of modern communication — constant bombardment paired with utter disconnection. This thread is never more apparent than in album opener “Loneliness.” The song reflects on the isolation Maita-Keppeler found as a Japanese-American in Japan – and the strength that loneliness can create. “The two months I spent studying in Kyoto were the loneliest of my life,” she says. “I lived by myself. I didn’t have any friends. People assumed I couldn’t speak the language. But I miss that rapport that I had with my loneliness, with myself, that intensity that exists when you’re alone.”

Along with guitarist/producer Matthew Zeltzer, bassist Nevada Sowle, and multi-instrumentalist Cooper Trail, Maita-Keppeler picks apart the smallest moments of confusion, uncertainty, and disconnection to achieve incredible emotional heights. I Just Want To Be Wild For You grasps passionately for a world that too often seems at a gauzy distance, framing complex ideas with visceral songs that sink immediately into the heart. 

Photo Courtesy: Tristan Paiige