Album Review: Maggie Rogers’ Don’t Forget Me (2023)

Written by Kate Moxon, edited by Millie Cain.

I first discovered Maggie Rogers in the January of 2019 when her song ‘Alaska’
made it into my Spotify algorithm’s rotation. From the first listen, I fell completely
head over heels for the way Maggie crafts her music and her artistry. After this, I
scoured the internet for the available low quality YouTube videos of her performing
on tour and high quality videos of performances on a variety of late night talk shows.

Some may be more familiar with her from a viral video of a masterclass with Pharrell
Williams whilst she was a student at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Williams gives her no notes on ‘Alaska’ and even compares her to the Wu-Tang Clan
because of her inability to be put in a box. More recently she has been appearing at
numerous of Zach Bryan’s tour shows to perform their song ‘Dawns’. A few weeks
ago, she shared the stage with Bruce Springsteen at Bryan’s Brooklyn show during
his encore of ‘Revival’.

Don’t Forget Me (2024) is co-written by Maggie and Ian Fitchuk, who has
consistently worked closely with country pop powerhouse Kacey Musgraves – as well
as having a writing credit on Beyoncé’s COWBOY CARTER (2024). The essence of
country seeps into each song of Rogers’ record especially ‘Never Going Home’ and
the title track ‘Don’t Forget Me’.

I found that this album excels at the storytelling element, which is obviously closely
associated with country and classic folk music. I would say that ‘Don’t Forget Me’
has elements of both Rogers’ previous albums, as well as her archival work released
during lockdown – with the softer acoustic guitar which becomes more prevalent as
the album progresses.

The album begins with the musical equivalent of a breath of fresh air, in the form of
‘It Was Coming All Along’. The seemingly breezy song depicts the inevitability of
growing up and a yearning to hang on to your youth forever, yet knowing this is futile.
In the first verse she sings:
‘And everywhere I look around /
It seems like we’re always saying goodbye,’
which is eerily relatable to most students when they initially move to university, and
again when the eventually say goodbye to the cities they called home for multiple
years. We all know that it was coming all along, but many refuse to accept this fact.

The next song ‘Drunk’ is a powerful and angry pop-influenced song which is about a
forbidden love, such as rekindling with an ex. In the pre-chorus Rogers sings:
‘And I see stars that never, ever, ever looked this bright to me
Feeling on your skin never felt this right to me,’
She knows it is wrong, but it also feels so right in the moment which is the hardest
part of letting go.

The following track is her second single for the album – ‘So Sick of Dreaming’. This
edition allows her to fully embrace her country-pop style, which is undoubtedly when
the artist is at her strongest musically. The bridge includes a spoken word interlude
where she retells her being stood up for her date to go to see The Knicks (they lost).
Her being fed up with dating players and losers is especially relatable especially in
the dating app age which never fails to provide disappointment.

‘The Kill’ is a song about incompatibility. Both parties are going in for the kill; both are
said to have laid out shoes from their previous relationships which were impossible
to fill. Musically, the song is very pop focused, but again contains elements of
country with the dominance of the acoustic guitars. Next is ‘If Now Was Then’, a
song about a past relationship and the things that Maggie would do to rectify the
situation if she got the chance. She wishes that both parties could take back the hurt
they caused, which is inevitably impossible – she’s stuck on this boy from her past to
the backing of a country-pop hybrid.

‘I Still Do’ is the first taste of a slower tempo. She sings:
‘Love is not the final straw
But it’s always a reason to risk it all’
Her emphasis on love is a theme which continues through the album. To Maggie,
love really is the reason for most of her actions and thoughts. The tempo reverts to upbeat style of ‘The Kill’ the on the next track ‘On & On & On’. She is still stuck on this past relationship, thinking about what could’ve happened. This song is a form of revenge.
‘And it goes on and on and on
When you hear this song
And it plays on and on and on,’
is her writing this song to taunt this boy. She wants him to hear this song and
remember how badly he treated her. In the outro she sings
‘Yeah, you better run,’
whilst laughing in a slightly threatening manner which added to the revengeful
message of the track.

‘Never Going Home’ keeps to a similar tempo and reflects the transition between
relationships.
‘There’s old music playing, I can hear my friend saying
“You know it’s time to go, go, go, go, go,”’
is reflective of her friends pushing her out of her comfort zone. In the bridge, Maggie
attempts to rebound and sings:
‘We get to talking, but those lips aren’t your lips
We lean together, those hips aren’t your hips’
but has the common experience of looking for your ex in someone else.

The penultimate track, ‘All The Same’, is hauntingly sad song about the monotony of the
aftermath of a breakup.
‘Give me the chance to wake up in a full romance
Just knowing that you chose to stay,’
is heart wrenching lyrically but coupled with the minimalistic backing, is made even
more sad. The final track, the titular track, ‘Don’t Forget Me’ was the first single released and,
again, is devastating. The song describes Maggie’s opinion on her friends’ lives and
how they are getting married and growing up. This is something which terrifies
Maggie however she feels left behind and still craves a relationship. Her friend,
‘Molly’, follows her loves to parties. Rogers sings
‘She seems happy, oh, but that’s not love to me’.

The album, as a whole, plays on Maggie’s strength in songwriting and overall
artistry. It perfects the country-pop hybrid genre, which is reminiscent of successes
such as Kacey Musgraves’ Grammy-winning album ‘Golden Hour’.