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Photo: Trevor Tweeten

I’ve been someone to talk about, I wanna be someone to talk to. 

It is easy to feel like whatever you’re doing is simply never enough, especially in your twenties. At some point between 20 and 30, Instagram feeds go from party pics and vacation flicks to an endless void of proposals, promotions, pregnancy announcements, and all of those other noteworthy little life events that suddenly make you nervous that you are 26 and in your pajamas, typing a music review about a song written by another 26 year old, who also happens to be a rising artist, fashion icon, and an actress in one of Netflix’s most popular shows ever. None other than Maya Hawke has returned with “Missing Out,” a folk-pop earworm serving as a reassuring hug to me, you, and anyone else in their twenties diagnosed with a curious case of imposter syndrome. 

In just over three and a half minutes, the singer-songwriter reflects—and regrets—on the life choices she’s made that brought her to where she is today. “Missing Out” begins with an anecdote: Hawke is at a bar full of Ivy League students, including her little brother, drinking and discussing their aspirations which, naturally, includes writing the next great American novel. This sends Hawke into somewhat of a spiral, feeling like there’s a bigger potential she could be living up to, if only she chose to attend college and have more of a ‘normal’ life trajectory like her sibling. Hawke sings, “Lucy wants to write the next great American novel, And she can't even read the bottle / She says I might be a genius, Well, she could be a model.”

Hawke elaborates, “It was the moment where I felt older than everyone because I laughed so hard. I was like, ‘You are so far down the wrong track!’ Wish to write a novel. That would be a miracle. Don’t wish to write the next great American novel, that’s a nightmare! It made me feel I actually am a different place in my life than these people I was around. It totally inspired this whole song.”

“Missing Out” introduces us to a new spin on Hawke’s traditional folk-rock sound, threading a soft-pop beat through hazy acoustic guitars. The instrumentals reflect the chorus, swirling into a frenzy as she realizes, “I’m missing out, missing out, missing out.” 

Hawke writes with an honest charm and “Missing Out” is no exception. Her lyrics are self-aware and witty, nodding to the opportunities she was born into, buying drinks with her ‘television salary’ and being ‘born with her foot in the door,’ while simultaneously alluding to the drawbacks of fame and fortune. While “Missing Out” might not have been written with the intention of relatability, it speaks to the universal Everything, Everywhere All At Once-esque experience of feeling like you are doing all the things and nothing at all, questioning what life would be like had you taken another path. 

“Missing Out” is the first single release ahead of Hawke’s album Chaos Angel, set to release on May 31.

Watch the "Missing Out" video below: