Maya Hawke - 'Chaos Angel' album review (2024)

THE SKINNY: “I was born with my foot in the door,” Maya Hawke sings on ‘Missing Out’, the first single that came from her latest album, Chaos Angel. Across the track, the daughter of Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke holds her hands up, singing about her “television salary” and all the privileges the mere fact of her birth allowed her, with a candid nuance that few other so-called nepo-babies would brave.

Throughout the piece, she’s looking around at the normalcy of youth from the outside, contemplating college life or the scenes that ‘regular people’ know well. And from the sidelines of the limelight, her feelings are somewhat bitter and embarrassed: “Now I know it’s me who’s missing out.” The whole idea of a star born with a silver spoon in their mouth feeling sad that they can’t spit it out would be eye-roll-worthy and condemnable in its ignorance if it wasn’t so carefully crafted. Hawke doesn’t come across as indulgent, instead she positions herself as a keen observer and stays there throughout Chaos Angel.

The record is littered with He-Said-She-Said lyrics as she builds vignetted scenes and tells stories that seem to be deeply intimate with borrowed lines from friends or lovers. Her words exist fully within the realm of tenderness, with every song being pinned down by the overwhelming idea that to feel anything at all is a joy and that any emotion, no matter how small, should be celebrated. In that way, Chaos Angel feels like a production that functions on the minute scale of whispered words and introspection.

However, when that’s not then elevated into something bigger, it feels too meek. Hawke’s voice is not built for power. Her vocals remain on the soft, singer-songwriter level from start to finish, so the album relies on production and instrumentation to lift it all up. When that happens, on songs like ‘Dark’ or ‘Hang In There’, it’s engaging and moving. But on the tracks that are built of not much more than vocals and an acoustic guitar, it doesn’t do enough or break through anything beyond ‘nice’.

It’s interesting the decision to tackle the nepotism elephant in the room on ‘Missing Out’. On the one hand, it could be seen that Hawke’s decision to release her deeply intimate and introspective music is a way for her to connect with people on a human level, as a reminder that all emotions are the same no matter your privileges. But on the weaker songs, it becomes hard not to think about the fact that not many artists would be able to get by on ‘nice’.

But that being said, there is no denying that Maya Hawke has clear worth as an artist beyond her surname. Her music feels like it bridges a gap between the worlds of Adrianne Lenker’s sharp acoustic intimacy and the brighter, sweet storytelling worlds of Taylor Swift, Laufey or Samia. Even with the foot in the door, Hawke deserves to be in the room but is at her best when she commits to bigger things, ironically, indulging herself in lavish production.

For fans of: Writing down things people have said in your diary as though you keep company with Tolstoy and Yeats.

A concluding note from a cynical social commenter: We’ve found the woman from ‘Common People’, and she’s moronically claiming she’d like to watch her life slide out of view.

Chaos Angel track by track

Release Date: May 31st | Producer: Christian Lee Hutson | Label: Mom+Pop

‘Black Ice’: From the first whispered “yeah”, Maya Hawke makes it clear that this is going to be a distinctly intimate release, built of shared secrets and diary notes. When her gentle vocals kick it, it feels like that’s the only way it could ever be with her. [3/5]

‘Dark’: What starts off as another gentle acoustic number quickly breaks open into something bigger. Hawke is at her best in these moments, when the softness of her voice is nestled and elevated by grander instrumentation that keeps her from becoming meek. [3.5/5]

‘Missing Out’: Hawke presents her own unique take on the nepotism debate with this observational track. Looking around at the sights of a normal life, she sings, “Now I know it’s me who’s missing out”, as she dares to tackle the tricky topic of having every privilege afforded to her to succeed but wishing she’d had the usual chances to fail. It would be eye-roll-worthy if it wasn’t written so well. [4/5]

‘Wrong Again’: ‘Wrong Again’ is lyrically stunning as a gorgeous contemplation of the worthiness of love, even if it goes bad. But Hawke’s vocals feel too whispery and strained, pushing the emotional performance too far until it all feels compromised. [2/5]

‘Okay’: “If you’re okay, then I’m okay,” is chanted over and over like a mantra while the instrumental weaves between soaring orchestral moments and glitchy details. It’s beautifully crafted, but at a point, it becomes a bit more like an extended interlude than a song. [2.5/5]

‘Better’: This vocal-effect heavy is another interlude-like chant. But as it builds to new textures, with an interesting contrast between the lullaby lyrics and the high-production style, it’s a refreshing midpoint that reengages the ears. [2.5/5]

‘Big Idea’: This is a nice enough song with lovely guitar tones and an expertly layered instrumental, but it doesn’t feel quite special or interesting enough in either lyric or sound to cut through more than that. [2.5/5]

‘Hang In There’: Across Chaos Angel, it’s easy to spot the singles as clear standouts on the record. ‘Hang In There’ seems to have so much more space, sounding like a timeless waltz with a classic balladic melody carrying her vivid storytelling to greater success. [3.5/5]

‘Promise’: The entire album is littered with “he said” and “she said”, building a thorough cast of voices that feels really intimate and lovely. But it feels like it’s Hawke’s own voice that risks letting it all down. On these more acoustic, simple songs, it’s hard not to hear her vocals as weak rather than sweet. [2.5/5]

‘Chaos Angel’: The way this finale track builds is so beautiful, gradually expanding out from a simple piano into a vaster, orchestral creation. It balances the softness that Hawke’s music always holds but pushes it into a more interesting, bigger production, which it often feels like it needs. [3/5]

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