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| © Shona Radcliffe |
The last time I wrote a feature on Mac, we spoke about the process of writing and recording his then-unreleased EP, 'Coming of Age'. A couple months later and here we are on the flip side, wherein I dissect the release a little more now that it's been released into the world. At this point, it is clear that the gem that is Mac Benson is destined for pearly success, and I am nothing short of ecstatic for him.
Mac's voice blankets your senses in opening track, 'Coming of Age', his cloudy tone pluming against the muted cerulean of the EP's cover. I honestly want to curl up under my sheets in a dimly lit room, a mug of hot chocolate in my hand and swirls of this track filling the atmosphere. I feel the same as the release continues, to be honest - 'Home with Me' is soft, warming.
I have and will continue to commend Mac's unapologetic view of LGBTQ+ expression in love songs. It is a source perhaps unconsidered by most, but to those to whom it matters, this medium is very much sought after. Taking this force into his own hands, the dream-pop king hugs the queer community with welcoming arms, leaving a small note of dedication in the EP's description on Bandcamp that reads, 'To anybody who identifies as queer in any capacity, who lives life on any part of our beautiful, ever-growing spectrum; this is for you. Never be afraid to fall in love, and keep doing it. Forever.'
'Bedsheets' is rustic and slow, taking the necessary time and care to allow this track to bloom. Each song on this anthology is gentle, crafting sanctuaries for LGBTQ+ folk to divulge in their long-shunned infatuations. The likes of 'Divine', for example, include same-sex pronouns - a small but necessary detail that reinforces Mac's intention to shift the perceptions of such 'taboo' relations. Artists usually remain neutral when employing pronouns in order to 'leave the song open for interpretation', while some naively use opposite-sex pronouns to subtly exclude LGBTQ+ people from relating. Perhaps unknowingly but prevalently nonetheless, Mac is taking huge steps for the meshing of the community and the media. (Thank you.)
'Coming of Age' concludes with the melancholy 'Don't Dance With Boys With Girlfriends', a track peppered with saddening shades of sage. Yet again, Mac is beautifully honest in his lyricism and focuses on using instruments to blissfully complement his storytelling, and I couldn't have placed a more apt track in its place.
Planted in the doorway of the hall of fame are a pair of black-laced trainers and white socks, wiping any shreds of adolescence onto the mat before sprinting right up to the podium and gazing into the currently empty frame. It won't be empty for long, though, I'm sure of it. I know this because I had another chat with Mac, exploring societal receptions to the EP, representation, and Taylor Swift. Again.
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| © Shona Radcliffe |
'Coming of Age' was released this past Friday, and it is beautiful. What's the reception been like so far?
Actually incredible. Like, the best response. People have been so so kind to me. I was sat with my friend the night before release, worried that it wouldn't be received well. It's honestly shocked me how much people have told me they like it.
Any comments about it that you can remember?
Yeah, a few actually. One person messaged me and said that they'd been through similar situations that I'd described in the songs: unrequited love, being left alone, etc. and that it'd given them something to relate to - that was really nice to hear. Someone else also messaged me to say 'thank you for being a queer icon', and that me being so open about it on this EP was special to them. That's so important to my work and to me. I just wanna be the queer musician I wish I'd seen when I was growing up.
I also got a text from my mum expressing her pride in my work, and how I should continue to do what I do and be myself proudly. She's really such a big part of my own self-acceptance and why I'm happy to be so outward in discussing LGBTQIA+ topics in my music.
Could you tell me about how your mum has influenced that aspect of your music? How much influence did she have on the EP's process?
I think she's influenced it massively. She was the first person to realise that I was gay - I think she realised even before I did. If I didn't have that primary validation from her that it was an okay thing to be, then I never would have been able to release, let alone write, songs like I do.
She's also the first person who hears most of my songs if not my friends. I went home for a week in April this year and that's where I wrote 'Divine', just me, my notepad, and my synth on the bed. As soon as I'd got a verse and chorus, I played it for her and she loved it. She messaged me on the day I released it as a single and said, 'It's really cool that you're writing so openly about being in love with men'. That's such a fond memory of us for me now.
Any other direct influences on the EP?
I'd say that all of my friends really influenced it and brought it together. I have a really amazing group of friends who were there the entire time the EP was being made, whether I was writing songs and playing ideas back to them, or shooting photos and videos. Even on the night before the EP was released, when I freaked out and had to change some parts, my friends were just always there and so ready to help out and give feedback and love, and it's been crucial to the EP's creation. I definitely have them to thank for it.
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| © Shona Radcliffe |
In our prior interview, we spoke about the overall vibe of your releases and aesthetic, which has shifted slightly with this EP. How did you decide what the cover was going to consist of and how did you go about getting the perfect shot?
I actually did the shoot for the cover twice. The first one was on film. To begin with, I was really adamant about the cover being shot on film - I wanted it to reflect the title of the EP and give it a kind of cinematic feel, but the film shots we got back just weren't resonating with me. Then I travelled home to Cumbria where my friend was looking to shoot something for her portfolio. She sent me some reference images of the kind of thing she wanted to shoot and I told her about my plans to release the EP.
We quickly realised that we kind of had the same vision in mind: the outdoor setting, the white sheet that's in a lot of the promo pictures, and the wet look on the cover. Everything just kind of fell into place. We took her car to the outskirts of Cumbria and just started shooting. It was an incredibly hot day that day, being in the car for longer than twenty minutes without burning up was a task.
I chose the cover that I did because I feel as though it's one-hundred percent what I had in mind for the cover. I wanted it to be a close-up of my face because I feel as though that kind of reflects the intimacy of the music. The idea of the wet look came from me. I feel as though a lot of songs on this project are about quite devastating moments in my recent past, and I feel as though if you analyse the cover with that in mind, you can kind of see that. It's such a vulnerable and simple image - it kind of has this element of pain and devastation to it but it's also beautiful.
In terms of the EP's content, can you tell me about some of your favourite lyrics from it and why you would class them as such?
That's a really hard one actually. I really like a lot of the lyrical content because of its honesty, so it's hard to pinpoint one or two. I really like 'Coffee cups and razor-lipped kisses' from 'Bedsheets'. That was actually an instance of me taking something that a guy had said to me, and putting it into a song I thought was quite funny but also really effective.
I also like 'You're everything and nothing that I want all at once' from 'Home With Me'. I was really proud of that song lyrically when I first wrote it - it just feels reminiscent of like, a '1989' era Taylor Swift lyric, which was such a big inspiration for me.
If you could steal an already existing lyric from another artist to slot into the EP, what lyric would you choose and what song would you put it into?
I would take any lyric from 'King of My Heart' by Taylor Swift and put it into 'Home With Me'. That song and 'Dress' by her influenced my writing for that song so directly. I think she's such an incredible pop writer.
If you could summarise 'Coming of Age' as a whole into one core message, what do you think it represents? Now that it's out, how do you think it will affect listeners?
The one core message that I keep going back to is that I just want people to realise that falling in love can be scary, confusing, and doesn't always go to plan, but that shouldn't stop you from doing it. I especially want that message to go out to any LGBTQIA+ listeners. We live in a world where something as simple as the sex or gender identity of the person we love is still under scrutiny. I find that the more I talk to people in the community, it feels as though these experiences are mutual no matter the person: that most queer people run into trouble of some sort when it comes to falling in love and it can be hard to deal with. I just want them to realise that it's okay.
I also feel like this is the first time I've really stepped into trying to make music that will resonate with people positively. So whether they're identifying with the sad lyrics, or they're listening to it going through a break-up, or they're listening to it whilst crying, I hope they're dancing to it too.
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| © Shona Radcliffe |
