Maude Latour turns heartache into mythology on her new single, "Block Your Number"
words by Ethan Ayer || photos by Zayira Ray
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Maude Latour is starting an emotional revolution. The 21-year-old New York-based pop star’s new single (and call to action) “Block Your Number” echoes the epic literature she alludes to in its verses. Stringing together diary-like confessions and psychoanalysis into everyday mythology to inspire others to do the same, she reminisces, “I remember when we first fell in love / Symphonies at the bus stop on a Tuesday / I was wearing blue Nike high tops / You were annotating Greek tragedies.” A programmed orchestra — courtesy of electronic producer and frequent-collaborator, MELVV — then harmonizes with Maude’s self-made choir before a cacophony of distorted electric guitars and feedback rip around her megaphone vocals to underscore the ultimate thesis: “I can't believe it's over / I watch our lives untangle / I guess that this is the part when I block your number.”
The song, which Zane Lowe premiered on Apple Music’s radio in early September, acts as a constitution for Maude’s artistry, a whiplash amalgamation of all her influences: the nuanced psychology of her Ivy League education, the generational diversity of her influences (from The Strokes to 100 gecs), and the apocalyptic romance she expertly translates.
Over email, Maude discusses these influences and more, as well as her thoughts on the current state of the music industry and America.
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On Instagram, you’ve described your new single “Block Your Number” as “Regina Spektor x The Strokes x Lana Del Rey x Vampire Weekend x Taylor Swift x 100 Gecs x Lorde x Avril [Lavigne].” How do these influences speak to your artistic vision?
I was so excited when I finished this song because after listening back to it I realized that it really did bring all of these artists together. I never conceptualized that they could truly overlap, but when I hear this song I realize that this is exactly a perfect combination of all of these sources of inspiration. I've always listened to many people across genres, and I still feel like I'm just at the beginning of exploring my sound. I'm excited to see where it'll go.
While it's literally the basis of “Block Your Number,” connection, whether digital or physical, has always been a motif in your work. How has the pandemic and following the release of your Starsick EP rerouted or reinforced your ideas on connection?
I'm definitely in a new era of creating music. I'm exploring new themes, and they seem to be centered more around personal, internal, introspection. I'm not exactly sure where it'll all take me, but I'm excited. It's difficult.
Watching your Tik Toks and online presence in general, you seem to (rightfully) take pride in being an independent artist. What’s your view on the state of the music industry in terms of being an independent artist and where do you see it heading in the future?
I am expecting some radical change about how this whole system works. This business has a way of not rewarding purest creativity. It's a streaming services problem, a label problem. It sucks the life out of you. I weigh it constantly — turning secret worship into this business. It's messed up. I am expecting a lot of change, I am expecting to be responsible for it too.
Your fan base seems almost grassroots; everyone I tell about your music immediately falls in love and it’s been so exciting watching your music slowly blow up. What is your relationship with your fans and social media like, especially in the context of “Block Your Number”?
This is definitely grassroots, for sure. When I look at my followers I feel like I've won them over literally one at a time. This has only spread through word of mouth. Sometimes that's a crushing feeling because it has taken my entire effort for five years to get where I am today, and I feel like I've given everything, and still, I'm such a small artist.
“I'm exploring new themes, and they seem to be centered more around personal, internal, introspection.”
Besides your music, you are also an outspoken advocate on political issues and environmental justice, especially during this election year. How does that speak to your artistic vision as a whole and where do you think politics intersects with music?
I'm writing this on election day, it feels somber, anxious, terrifying. I don't think artists are doing what they should be doing, myself included. This election will be a turning out in this country, and radical change must follow afterward. That's when artists will need to step up once again, and this time with more than empty Instagram posts. We need a better world.