Album Review: ‘Monarch’ by Maria-Therese

Toronto-born R&B artist Maria-Therese’s EP, MONARCH, released on October 3 of this year. Throughout the nearly 19 minutes of runtime, the six-track EP touched on everything from love, change, and moving on. In an interview with RANGE, Maria-Therese said “spiritually the butterfly represents rebirth,” in reference to the theme that inspired the title of her EP. 

The EP opens with “Twist the Knife,” following the break-up of a long-term relationship. Maria-Therese looks between good times in the past and the splintering of a relationship in the future. She wonders where it all went wrong. The song’s slow pace lends itself well to her reflections on the past. And the gradual build as she looks towards the future is fitting. However, this is the weakest track on the EP. The mellow guitar greatly restricts her voice and creates a more bland sound.

“Under My Skin” follows with a strong pick up in energy and more interesting sound. While the song ties to the overall theme of the album, it is much looser in this track. Maria-Therese continues reflecting on the same relationship as the previous song. Though this is one of the shorter tracks on the EP, it is a much-needed reprieve following the monotony of “Twist the Knife.” But it still doesn’t hold up well on its own. 

The first of the pre-release singles is “Louisiana Crawfish Boil.” Maria-Therese continues her reflection on her past relationship, lamenting in an audio clip at the end of the track that she “doesn’t … want to wait for the damage to be done to realize this could have been different.” The faster pace and varied instrumentals allow for Maria-Therese’s vocals to shine. Though, it took almost half the EP to reach that. The audio featuring Maria-Therese speaking at the end of the track lessens the replayability, but it serves to tie back into the central theme of rebirth in the EP. 

“Signed, Sealed, Delivered” is the fourth song of the EP and one of the three singles released before its release. Almost immediately, this track takes a much different tone. The nearly ballad-like intro transitions into an energetic and upbeat backing track that best accentuates Maria-Therese’s voice. This change is complemented by the end of her reflecting on the past and instead looking to move on. This is one track that could have been longer, for pure enjoyability. 

The fifth track and final single, “Nirvana” brings back the more mellow style and looped guitar from “Twist the Knife.” Unlike the opening track, this is accompanied by a faster pace and Maria-Therese’s signature vocal runs. The core of this track seems to be about going your own way, especially as Maria-Therese repeats that she will “forge her way up to Nirvana.” As one of the longer tracks in the EP, it does fall victim to some of the same repetitiveness as “Twist the Knife.”

“Beyond the Pines” closes out the EP and calls back to the themes of rebirth that got lost in the middle tracks. Maria-Therese sings of intent to “hit the road” and “live the good life,” closing out a chapter and beginning a new one. This track continues the trend of upbeat instrumentals beneath Maria-Theresa’s soaring vocals. This is a fitting end to MONARCH and the cycle of rebirth the title alludes to.

The EP’s greatest strength is its overall cohesiveness, both thematically and in its sound. The smooth transitions between the tracks further emphasizes this. However, on their own, none of the tracks stand out and they quickly get repetitive. The weak opening tracks taint the overall listenability of the EP. The slow start is especially noticeable with a total of six songs. The flat backing tracks that dominate the tracks inhibits the strong vocals that Maria-Therese excels in, working against the musicality of EP.