LISTEN UP LA! UNDERDOG MAUMAUMAU HAS SOME STUFF TO SAY IN NEW SINGLE "HEARTBREAK POLICE"
MAUMAUMAU is a Mexican singer-songwriter and producer right here in Los Angeles. His dance-y pop numbers and indie-pop tunes will stick in your head for the whole day-- hook... line.... sinker, you're caught. His goal is simple: encourage the underdog.
Don't be deceived by him calling himself the underdog. This singer-songwriter’s glasses are anything but rose-colored. MAU is not afraid to explore darker sides of the world, and he's also not afraid to keep it real. Covering topics of social injustices, anxieties, tech addiction, and the intricacies of relationships and communication, MAU engages the listener in new and convicting ways. In his new single "Heartbreak Police" the singer-songwriter does just that.
"'Heartbreak Police' is a song about police brutality. I wrote it with a friend Curtis Kelly who's Native American.” Says the songwriter, “It was really challenging to write because there's so much attached to it. I don't fully believe all police is bad, but I get that systemically they're trained incorrectly and that needs to change, and I believe black people are being abused. The complication of writing this was to not step on Black Lives Matter's toes because I don't know their perspective like they do. We had to be very careful and very intentional. I think we tackled it really well, I think the song is vulnerable and I'm really proud of it."
The first verse addresses the unfortunate familiar feeling of opening our phone to find nothing but a horror movie scrolling across our screens. "This ain't Steven King/ It's real-life". The lyric introduces a full instrumental into the second verse that addresses Black Lives Matter, with the descriptive lyrics, “He don’t wanna know my name/ Just another ticket to pay/ Attention gripping the wheel/ White knuckle fist in my face”. MAU addresses in the chorus that the whole thing can feel hopeless, and prompts the question: how are we really going to find protection? "Light up the sirens/ Is there anybody else to call heartbreak police", repeating the desperate line, "Is there anybody else to call? / Is there anybody else to call?" By the bridge, you're off the dance floor and marching down the streets hand in hand with MAU demanding justice chanting, “We shouldn’t have to fight/ Just protect our human rights/ We shouldn’t have to die/ We gon' haunt you in the night/ We shouldn’t have to fight/ Just protect our human rights/ We shouldn’t have to die/ We are here to testify”!
"I don't want to be a political artist", says MAU. "I think the world we live in requires musicians to step up and address what's going on. If you're not, you're not standing on the right side of history. Stand up for what you believe in".
Listen to “Heartbreak Police” below: