Maggie Andrew - HOW TO SING FOR MONEY EP
- Samuel Stevens
- Sep 22
- 3 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
Alt-pop has always thrived on contradictions—vulnerability against bravado, glossy production against jagged emotion—and on HOW TO SING FOR MONEY, which is out September 26, 2025, via turtlemusik, Maggie Andrew leans into every tension with confidence and clarity. The Nova Scotia-born artist has been steadily carving out her place in the Canadian pop landscape, but this EP feels like the moment she fully seizes it. With a flair for sharp storytelling and genre-fluid experimentation, Andrew presents her most fully realized work to date.
HOW TO SING FOR MONEY opens with “Emotional Touchdown,” a shimmering cut built on gauzy synths and a beat that mirrors the disorienting high of constant motion. Lyrically, Andrew interrogates the emptiness of a jet-set lifestyle, painting the loneliness that lingers long after the crowd’s cheers fade. The ache of distance is handled with poise, her melodies skating effortlessly between dreamy and defiant.
The following track, “Unfinished Business,” sinks even deeper into melancholy. The hazy atmosphere underscores her exploration of unresolved love, one where she chases someone still tethered to their past. It’s a standout moment of intimacy, with Andrew’s voice glowing against restrained production, giving the track a haunting resonance.
The title track, “How to Sing for Money,” acts as both centrepiece and manifesto. A mix of pounding percussion, searing '80s-inspired guitars, and Andrew’s syrupy toplines, it’s a biting look at the commodification of heartbreak. At once ironic and infectious, the song calls out the absurdity of turning pain into a pop spectacle, even as it revels in its own cathartic brilliance. It’s a daring tightrope act that Andrew executes with style, doubling down on her ability to pair wit with emotional gravity.
“Father Figure” shifts gears into acoustic textures, as Andrew reflects on her upbringing and the process of transcending the weight of her past. Vulnerable yet unflinching, the song carries a maturity that grounds the EP’s more maximalist moments. That spirit of confrontation carries into the track, “If God Was Real,” where she dismantles inherited beliefs with buoyant, pop-rock-leaning instrumentation. It’s playful, rebellious, and deeply personal—a rejection of dogma that still bursts with hope.
The EP’s most explosive track comes with “Did You Cry,” a sun-soaked anthem that channels a post-breakup fury into catharsis. Its companion music video, directed by MOOSECANFLY, pushes the narrative even further, casting Andrew as a runaway bride fleeing a toxic cycle. It’s a visceral reminder that Andrew doesn’t just sing about survival—she embodies it.
The EP's closing track, “Fall Like a Feather,” ties the project together with resilience. A soaring anthem that rises above the chaos of what came before, it leaves the listener with a sense of renewal. If the earlier songs wrestle with disillusionment and exhaustion, this finale asserts Andrew’s enduring strength: to bend without breaking, to turn hardship into soaring melody.
Taken as a whole, HOW TO SING FOR MONEY feels like both a culmination and a turning point. It’s the sound of an artist who has sharpened her vision through years of collaboration and lived experience—CBC Searchlight winner, festival mainstay, ECMA award recipient—and now delivers it with unwavering confidence. Andrew refuses to be boxed in: she can move from glossy synth-pop to folk-leaning intimacy to alt-rock grit without losing her thread. What ties it all together is her voice, at once commanding and tender, capable of flipping from sweetness to sting in an instant.
Maggie Andrew's latest doesn’t just showcase her ability to craft hits—it solidifies her as one of the most exciting voices in alternative pop today. HOW TO SING FOR MONEY is equal parts daring, vulnerable, and magnetic. It’s the kind of project that not only resonates in the moment but promises even bigger things to come.
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