Every week, the Milwaukee Music Premiere sponsored by Density Studios connects the city’s artists with our listening audience. If you’re an artist with a track you’d like us to debut exclusively on Radio Milwaukee, head over to our Music Submission page to learn how.
Editor’s note: The artist for this premiere chose childhood toys Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy as an innocent metaphor to help process the loss of a friend with “a huge amount of creative and playful energy.” We acknowledge that some intellectuals have drawn a connection between the toys and racial stereotypes, and are sharing the song in the spirit in which it was intended.
Angie Mack brings a lifetime of musical appreciation and expertise to her new single, “Raggedy Angie,” the title track from her debut EP coming out Feb 1.
Mack could be considered a virtuoso, with a lifelong application of music finding its way into her everyday existence. Since childhood, writing songs has been her escape when things got tough, and it was through vulnerability that she shined. The creative outlet continued after high school, and more recently Mack has felt the fire in her heart calling back to the songs from her early 20s.
Spending much of her life as an advocate for the arts and helping kids realize their big dreams, Mack channels her devotion to others into the new single. “I sat down and wrote the beginning of the song several years ago when a talented friend suddenly left my world,” she shared. “There was a void that was difficult to explain, [and] I never intended to do anything with the song.”
The call from inside her heart was difficult to ignore, though, and she partnered with Chris Crain to produce the whole EP. The title track is centered around a feeling of deep grief and uncovers how the process itself scars the individual, especially when it reflects off the hundreds of people we meet while living.
They blow in, they blow out
They turn your world upside down
They are up and then they’re down
And they swing you around
As they play with your mind
They don’t stay around for a long time
It would be best if you knew it from the start
They’ll help you live
Then they’ll break your heart
Backed by a reserved instrumentation driven by a rustic acoustic guitar and warm piano, the track slowly pulls in the listener with a comfortably bright tone accented by bells and an organ. It’s a song that refuses to be anything it’s not, which is commendable. It clearly defines itself in the opening verse, building this slow sway into a sweet finish filled with grief.
Mack not only demonstrates her musical capacity with “Raggedy Angie,” but cleverly encapsulates the discomfort that can come from art. It makes you sit in grief without any shocking crescendos to distract the ear, instead existing as a reflective piece that finds the listener joining Mack in really feeling the emotion, with all the intent in the world.
It’s never too late to get introspective about the people we love and those we’ve lost, so listen to “Raggedy Angie” anytime using the player at the top of the page and catch it on 88Nine throughout today (7:30, 11:30 a.m.; 3:30, 7:30 p.m.).
Jonathan Joseph is a Milwaukee-based multimedia freelance journalist who specializes in art and culture writing (and all things Milwaukee), with work appearing on Radio Milwaukee and in Milwaukee Magazine. Contact him via email or find him on LinkedIn.