Album Review: Maggie Rogers’ ‘Don't Forget Me’ is a Twangy Time Capsule Full of Soft Memories and Sunny Reflections

Maggie Rogers wrote her newest album, Don’t Forget Me, in 5 days, yet it feels like the grandest statement of her career thus far.

Written by Rachel Joy Thomas 

Photo courtesy of New York Digital News

Maggie Rogers is a household name in the indie-pop world. Her debut to the music world showcased her famous song “Alaska” during a Masterclass with Pharrell Williams, which struck audiences with a sense of her lyrical prowess and sonic ability. In the YouTube video, which has now amassed over 3 million views, the Maryland singer had a meek, quiet presence, which improved after listening to her song “Alaska.” The only sign of a future star was the slightest, creeping smile on her face as compliments rolled in for her production style, which combined folk-pop sounds with lively electronics. 

Now, the girl in that video is almost incomparable to her confident present-day self, even as she returns to the folk-like sounds she grew up with in Maryland. 

Her mastery of the folk-pop sound reverberated through her debut, Heard It In a Past Life, then wholly switched gears with Surrender. Surrender reflected a more furious, ostentatious sound with larger-than-life qualities that cemented Rogers in the indie-pop sphere. Her stage performances looked nothing like her previous self, but her music was still wholly defined by her incredibly individualistic vocals and the critical markers of her sonic production. Soft-backing alto runs sparked and illuminated her choruses, creating awe-inspiring harmonies with vivid, narrative-filled lyrics. 

On her third album, Don’t Forget Me, she turned that unique key to her sound into a chronological exploration of memories, all written in five days, featuring some of her best tracks yet. 

Don’t Forget Me reflects Rogers’ life with a stunning and evocative simplicity. This album has a certain quietude that doesn’t beg the listener to view it with gravitas. Instead, it feels like a more subdued yet understandable version of Rogers' previous albums. 

One of the most significant changes to Rogers' direction comes from her ability to inject warmth onto every track, reflecting her prescribed goal of making a sunday drive album. There were glimpses of her afterglow on previous albums, like Heard It In a Past Life, especially on tracks like “Light On.” This warmth, however, was more synthetic, relying on a louder twang and robust vocals that were experimental but less reliant on her songwriting capabilities. Her new album grows by reflecting on her past sonically and lyrically while fundamentally building up toward the future. 

“Drunk,” the second track on Don’t Forget Me, is incredibly reminiscent of Surrender’s “Shatter” in its buildup and progression. The song has an all-encompassing rhythm and some of Rogers’ classic vocal highs, dramatically progressing and flowing into a shattering conclusion. Detailing a love affair that makes the 29-year-old singer feel drunk without drinking, the track also features an apparent reference to “Give A Little” from her debut. Rogers sings, “And if you meet me halfway, I'll drive all night / And nobody's gonna tell me it's not right.” Instead of asking to “give a little,” Rogers asks for her partner to meet her halfway, an apparent change that exudes confidence.

“So Sick of Dreaming” exemplifies Rogers' free spirit as she tells a partner, “Oh, there ain't no diamond ring you could buy me to take me home.” Continuing to establish her independence, Rogers includes a phone interlude on the bridge, providing a nostalgic and archival glimpse into her life. She attacks her date for changing plans and going to a Knicks game. The snickering lyrics, “What a loser / And by the way, the Knicks lost” feel like a defiant, happy memory about an invasive man, an interlude with a lush yet still comparably stripped-back soundscape to other albums. 

There are only a few noteworthy issues with Don’t Forget Me, the most prominent being some simplified and orthodox song structures. One after another, tracks follow with strong, exceptional verses that are at times let down by their more lackluster choruses that rely on catchiness. “On & On & On,” despite its sunny disposition, features the repeating vocal “And it goes on and on and on / When you hear this song / And it plays on and on and on / And on all along.” The repetitiveness doesn’t necessarily increase the song's catchiness and lacks purpose within the lyrical framework of the song. Instead, it serves as a weaker point for the album. When comparing the verse’s lyrics, “Started back a year ago / And on my eyes, we're close to younger / You're understated, overrated / You were making space for your hunger,” to the chorus, any listener would expect more from the final product.

“The Kill” is one of the strongest tracks on the album, with a mind-numbingly addictive introduction and an incredibly evocative riff. Rogers’ vocals are ideally suited for the doubtful and almost insecure tone that the guitar, synths, and strong bass create. 

In “The Kill,” Rogers seemingly doesn’t know whether she or her past partner “went in for the kill,” the final strike that ends a toxic relationship. Rogers at first says, “I was all the way in, you were halfway out the door,” but then switches the lyric in the next chorus, concluding that instead, “You were in, I was halfway out the door,” and finally, in the last pre-chorus that “Oh, we were going in for the kill.” This ambiguous conclusion may represent Rogers’ hindsight that both parties in the relationship had misconceptions about the hunter and the hunted. Still, ultimately, they both hurt each other in the end. 

“The Kill” also cements an essential theme throughout Don’t Forget Me. Rogers laments, “One of these days / I'm gonna wake up fresh / And wipe all the past from my eyes.” Rogers attaches herself to the past and struggles to let go at the right time. Reflecting on the past, she finally lets go in “I Still Do,” a soft piano ballad that heavily relies on her alto voice filling its sonic space. As the folk-pop singer asks, “How far can you bend before you break it all someday? / How long can you wait, 'cause love is not a debt you pay.” The soft lyrics reflect her ultimate philosophy on love and her willingness to let go of something, even if it feels fierce and unbreakable. 

Rogers continues her reflections on the past in “All The Same,” a haunting and quiet track reflecting on the desire to kiss a partner just once more. Rogers cries, “Give me the chance to wake up in a full romance / Just knowing that you chose to stay,” a plea to return to a world where her former lover is still near her. The song features only a heartbroken guitar and piano, softly capturing her slow forgetfulness as she leans more and more into the past. 

As Rogers simply interludes, “Until one day, you wake up and you realize / That what you see is what you know / And still you wish for one more kiss / A moment's bliss from a lover you've always known,” she segues into disconsolate hymns, slowly humming. At the same time, she continues a relatively repetitive strumming pattern, switching between 4 simple chords. The simplicity and overwhelming melancholic energy beautifully exemplify Rogers' deep pain at the loss of someone she loved.

Image courtesy of Electric Lady Studios

Finally, “Don’t Forget Me” comes full circle regarding Rogers's desires. In the deep, unhappy pain of a relationship’s end, Rogers realizes that she still desires a feral, ferocious love that will “Take [her] money” and “wreck [her] Sundays.” 

Rogers sings about a friend named Molly who’s “got a guy she / Swears to God could be her family” with the “greenest eyes you’ve ever seen.” But Molly follows her partner around, and to Rogers, that’s not what love is. The singer, on previous tracks like “I Still Do,” defines love as a “reason to risk it all.” Her definition significantly differs from following others and marrying young, unlike both Molly and Sally in “Don’t Forget Me.” 

Thematically, Rogers’ more relaxed and serendipitous sonic production doesn’t detract from her incredibly confident and well-developed definition of love. Rodgers refuses to settle down lyrically, and this album still reflects her past experience of loving fearlessly without expectations rather than conforming to traditional stereotypes of what love is supposed to be. Her refusal to get married just because other people she knows are settling down showcases her high expectations and seemingly is one of the reasons she went through such a devastating relationship end. Rogers laments through her past experiences chronologically, making “Don’t Forget Me” a perfect conclusion to an album that develops through a foreboding heartbreak and eventually reinvigorates itself in a deafening, joyous conclusion based on newfound inner strength and maturation. 

Ultimately, Don’t Forget Me acts as a genuine instrumental and lyrical sequel to Surrender. Many may think that Surrender dramatically differs from Don't Forget Me due to its creation as an avenue for performance and its development as part of Rogers’ Harvard thesis. However, it ultimately is an album about fearlessness. Rogers was more angry on Surrender, using her voice to capture a more blistering sound reflecting her intense feelings. But Rogers shapes the chronological experience of Don’t Forget Me around her past in a way that softens both the good and the bad, making it an incredibly cohesive, contemplative reflection of Surrender’s feral joy. 

The more mature vision that Rogers presents in Don’t Forget Me is a sharp, glinting contrast, with a laid-back performance, but it remains reminiscent of the morning light creeping over early morning darkness. In other words, it’s a bright time capsule that serves as a reminder that there are brighter moments in life waiting for anyone who wants to see them.