Everything We Know about Maggie Rogers’ Debut Album So Far

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Maggie Rogers rose to fame in 2016 with her hit song “Alaska,” which she wrote in about 15 minutes.

Read that again—FIFTEEN minutes.

Rogers penned “Alaska” for a master class at New York University lead by Pharrell Williams. A video of Pharrell’s awestruck reaction went viral that June, skyrocketing Rogers to instant stardom. The indie-pop singer’s debut EP, Now That the Light Is Fading, was released under a year later, on Feb. 17, 2017.

“There was so much change that happened so fast, I wasn’t always sure how to make all this stuff feel like me,” Rogers explained in a recent statement. “I was really overwhelmed for a while, and scared too—my life became so public so fast and there were times I wasn’t sure that this was all for me. But I never had doubts about the music.” And now, we’ll get to hear that music on her debut LP, Heard It In a Past Life. Here’s what we know so far.

The Basics

Rogers’ major-label debut Heard It In a Past Life is due out Jan. 18, 2019, on Capitol Records and available for preorder now. The 24-year-old sensation previously put out two independently released albums, The Echo (2012) and Blood Ballet (2014).

The Singles

Rogers has released three new singles—“Fallingwater,” “Give a Little” and “Light On”—that will be featured on Heard It In a Past Life.

Paste’s Justin Kamp describes Rogers’ latest track as follows: “‘Light On’ is a fluorescent dance-floor jam in the vein of her previous singles off the album. Rogers’ knack for infusing blipping synth melodies with warmth makes the pop-radio tactics of ‘Light On’ feel a bit more sincere. Her voice is the key—it’s rounded and versatile, heartfelt and fluttering, a firefly over flashing-light beats.”

The Tracklist

Heard It In a Past Life features a couple of previously released songs, including “Alaska” and “On + Off,” alongside Rogers’ latest singles:

01. Give A Little
02. Overnight
03. The Knife
04. Alaska
05. Light On
06. Past Life
07. Say It
08. On + Off
09. Fallingwater
10. Retrograde
11. Burning
12. Back In My Body

The Songwriting

There have been a lot of big changes in Rogers’ life lately, so expect her album to reflect that.

“The record is about change and transition, and how amazing but also terrifying that can be, and everything in between,” Rogers explained in a July interview with DIY Magazine.

“I made an EP because … I had to put music out immediately. But I never got to finish my sentence,” recalled Rogers. “Now, putting a record out, it’s just like, ‘OK, everybody slow down for just a second, this is what I actually have to say,’ and that feels good.”

The Sound

It feels wrong to place Rogers in a singular genre. Alt-rock? Indie-pop? Electro-folk? None of these categories can really do the trick.

“I reached a place where I wanted to make more music but I didn’t know what I wanted,” Rogers recalled in a January 2017 interview with NME. “So I stopped labelling music by genre and just got into a studio to be creative. Now I write whatever feels instinctive.”

Rogers’ inventive sound might be due in part to her synesthesia, meaning that the stimulation of one of her senses leads to the instinctive stimulation of another sense. In Rogers’ case, it’s sound and images, or music and color.

“I’ve always been a very visual creator. I make mood boards or sit with colored pencils and scribble and try and figure out what I’m trying to work through musically,” Rogers explained to NME. “In production, if I’m getting stuck and can’t figure out what I need, I make a palette, visualizing what I’m trying to do. Then I can hear it.”

The Album Art

The Lead-up

As if putting out a debut album isn’t time-consuming enough, Rogers has been on the move. She just made her Saturday Night Live debut on Nov. 3 with host Jonah Hill, and now she’s on tour with Mumford & Sons.

Give it up for @maggierogers!!! #SNLpic.twitter.com/C5vpruNaSg

— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) November 4, 2018

The Tour

Rogers is in the process of becoming a global sensation—taking on the world, one continent at a time. She began touring in the U.K. with Mumford & Sons on Nov. 16 and will be making her way across Europe, North America and Australia. Check out the dates below.

Stay tuned for updates on Heard It In a Past Life.

Maggie Rogers Tour Dates:

November
29 – London, U.K. @ O2 Arena

December
01 – Leeds, U.K. @ First Direct Arena
07 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ Wells Fargo Center
08 – New York, N.Y. @ Live From Here
09 – Boston, Mass. @ TD Garden
10 – New York, N.Y. @ Madison Square Garden
11 – New York, N.Y. @ Madison Square Garden
14 – Washington, D.C. @ Capital One Arena
17 – Toronto, Ont. @ Scotiabank Arena
18 – Toronto, Ont. @ Scotiabank Arena

January
17 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ The Fonda Theatre

February
14 – Dublin, Ireland @ The Academy
15 – Dublin, Ireland @ The Academy
17 – Glasgow, Scotland @ SWG 3
18 – Manchester, U.K. @ O2 Ritz
19 – London, U.K. @ O2 Academy Brixton
22 – Paris, France @ La Gaîté Lyrique
24 – Brussels, Belgium @ Ancienne Belgique
25 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso
27 – Cologne, Germany @ Gloria Theatre
28 – Berlin, Germany @ Kesselhaus

March
02 – Frankfurt, Germany @ Zoom
03 – Milan, Italy @ Magnolia
04 – Hamburg, Germany @ Mojo Club
06 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Vega
07 – Oslo, Norway @ Rockefeller Music Hall
08 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Berns
20 – Toronto, Ont. @ The Phoenix
21 – Toronto, Ont. @ The Phoenix
22 – Montreal, Que. @ MTelus
23 – Portland, Maine @ State Theatre
25 – Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club
26 – Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club
29 – New York, NY @ Hammerstein Ballroom
30 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ The Fillmore Philadelphia
31 – Raleigh, N.C. @ The Ritz

April
02 – Atlanta, Ga. @ Tabernacle
03 – Birmingham, Ala. @ Iron City
04 – Nashville, Tenn. @ Marathon Music Works
06 – Indianapolis, Ind. @ Egyptian Room at Old National Centre
07 – St Louis, Mo. @ The Pageant
09 – Denver, Colo. @ Ogden Theatre
10 – Denver, Colo. @ Ogden Theatre
15 – Portland, Ore. @ Crystal Ballroom
16 – Seattle, Wash. @ Showbox SoDo
17 – Vancouver, B.C. @ Commodore Ballroom
19 – Oakland, Calif. @ Fox Theater