Watson Maack Releases Anthemic and Cohesive "Safety" EP

By Emily Herbein

Philadelphia-turned-Nashville artist Watson Maack released his debut EP, Safety, Friday, and it’s the culmination of a year’s worth of writing, transitioning, and self-discovery. His single “Right One,” released back in the spring, kicked off this new cycle of Maack’s transition from amateur singer/songwriter to very sure-footed solo artist. 2019 has been good to him. He played Philly’s Bourbon & Branch with Jersey-based acoustic artist Lane Simkins, joined alt rock band Sink In on an east coast tour, and played an EP release show in his new hometown. He’s on the up and up and up.

Diving into Safety, everything about this release is cohesive and nicely contained within Maack’s instantly recognizable sound. Sparkling guitar riffs paired with emphatic drum beats and anthemic vocals are unmistakably his calling card, and he absolutely owns the space he’s carved out for himself in the not-quite-acoustic, not-quite-rock niche.

Aside from “Right One,” we’ve got a completely new batch of songs on this EP. Though they’re all sonically cohesive, there are some obvious heavy standouts. While the opener, “Discover,” eases the listener in with understated vocals and gentle synthetic tones, the heaviest song, “Differences” sits comfortably in the front half of the tracklisting. Ever the fan of energetic percussive introductions and transitional, harmonic-to-harsh vocals, it’s a notable, though definitely positive, outlier a the front to back listen.

“Right One,” released earlier this year, is one of the most comforting tracks simply for its repetition and familiarity. Maack’s vocals on this one are so smooth and anthemic, and that’s totally the feel of the entire release. Anthemic is going to be the word of the post, because each song has a distinct inspirational quality to the sound. Lyrically, each song is about change and acceptance and overcoming doubt/fear, etc. Each song has an upward mobility kind of direction to it - no downer ballads on this one.

The production quality on Safety also shows a growing sense of maturity, as did the “Right One” single. Maack really isn’t messing around. His cultivated a touring band for both local Nashville and Reading shows, and he’s been purposefully selective with who he has on tour with him. His band is undoubtedly his family, some of which he’s played with during his high school days when Boundaries was still active, but he’s managed to form a professional circle of musicians.

You can catch his hometown show on December 20th at Building 24 in Reading, PA. Stream Safety below the cut.