Maia Friedman has been busy since joining up with Dirty Projectors a few years back: In addition to contributing to the five EPs the band released in 2020, she also launched the group Coco, who revealed their debut album last year. And now Friedman is gearing up to release her own solo LP titled Under the New Light next Friday through Last Gang Records. In being a solo release, it makes sense that the latest sample of the record, “Sunny Room,” sees the songwriter searching for a room of her own, singing of a metaphorical space that feels like home over a gentle acoustic guitar.
“The search for my sunny room—my internal place of peace, comfort, and calm—is a daily endeavor, and sometimes feels like a tug-of-war,” she shares. “This song is a wish that the comforting space within one’s self is bright enough to outshine moments of darkness. As someone who has struggled with depression and anxiety, I know that these sunny rooms can often be difficult to find, and yet I do my best to renew the search time and time again.”
The track arrives with a performance video that places Friedman in a room full of windows which, ironically, fill the room with some not-so-sunny skies. “I wanted to create a video that was intimate, raw, and still,” she continues. “We drove up to Marlboro, NY the day after an ice storm in early February, and the hills and trees were completely sparkling. You could hear a crystalline sound coming from the icy branches moving with the wind, which sounded like a clink, clink, clink. My dear friend Stephen Spaccarelli was kind enough to let us set up in his studio and his son Mateo helped Philip capture the audio. It was a special and lucky day—very grateful to have been amongst friends in such a beautiful place.”
Watch the video below, and stream the track here.
