Macie Stewart
Mouth Full of Glass
Full Time Hobby
11 November 2022

Chicago-based singer, songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Macie Stewart (She/They) finds solace in solitude on their debut solo album, Mouth Full of Glass. Most of the songs on this project were recorded during the pandemic, during which Stewart took long walks in the forest preserve near their home after the recent end of their long-term relationship. Mouth Full of Glass feels like a peek into the thoughts and feelings that were running around Stewart’s mind during these reflective and, no doubt, enlightening walks.
While this is their first solo album, she’s far from a newcomer to the music world. She’s worked with many musicians over the past few years, not only working alongside Sima Cunningham in their band, Finom (FKA Ohmme) but also helping to create tracks for the likes of Whitney and even adding their string expertise to SZA’s single, ‘Drew Barrymore.’ She has also toured with The Weather Station, Clare Rousay, and Japanese Breakfast as a multi-instrumentalist, further proving that Stewart’s musical know-how is second to none. This also shines a light on the fact that Stewart clearly has the ability to do pretty much whatever she wanted on this record, showing that every layer of these intricate tracks was performed and placed with great consideration and thoughtfulness.
Kicking off the album is ‘Finally,’ a delicate and enchanting song that introduces the introspective themes that we’ll see explored throughout the rest of the album: “Finally, Finally, I learn to tell the truth to myself,” she sings. A slightly off-kilter finger-plucked guitar riff acts as the backbone to the song before a brief, yet beautiful, string arrangement melody moves into the forefront of the track, highlighting Stewart’s expert compositional skills.
A more mellow and sombre acoustic melody opens ‘Garter Snake,’ before the synthesisers and saxophone arrangement by Sen Morimoto elevate the track. Stewart’s lofty vocals offer self-awareness as she focuses on the paralysing purgatory of choice that one faces during a doomed relationship: “I am addicted to indecision, I am addicted and I feel wicked.”
The melancholia of the album really starts to pick up with the semi-titular track, ‘Mouthful of Glass.’ The soothing acoustic notes blend with Stewart’s grand, powerful, and almost operatic vocals to create one of the most atmospheric tracks on the record before the song’s powerful conclusion sees them repeat the line: “there’s something here.” Following this, ‘Golden (For Mark)’ is quite different to what we’ve seen so far, with its ambient instrumentals and a dark, sorrowful feel to Stewart’s vocals as she reflects on a childhood death: “a picture upon her mantle, Saw her cry a handful of times wondering who you’d have been.”
Three repeated lonely notes pave the way for ‘Where We Live,’ before Stewart’s even more lonesome vocals flow alongside them. A personal favourite, this song captures Stewart’s ability to confidently create emotive passages with seemingly simple yet deceptively deep instrumentation. ‘What Will I Do’ brings Stewart’s more personal, reflective side out in full force. This song sees them open up entirely about their recently ended relationship and aims to capture the complex emotions that go along with such a situation: “I didn’t say the things, That I know now I’m through the door, I didn’t know myself, When will I know myself?”
Stewart turns the experimentation up a notch on ‘Wash It Away’ (the final track on the original US version of the album), which features towering vocals and an excellently crafted horn arrangement from Ayanna Woods. Stewart explains that she “wanted the song to physically feel like it was washing away, morphing into and leaving behind this beautiful orchestral ghost.” The final track, ‘Maya, Please,’ presents an internal monologue about seeking forgiveness and acts as an incredibly cinematic conclusion to the record. It rounds off the central theme of forgiveness that has permeated the entire record, both asking another for forgiveness and, crucially, forgiving yourself. A confident and intricately polished album, Mouth Full of Glass revels in the subtle and sombre without losing its palpable sense of hope. It’s an album about self-reflection, self-discovery and, ultimately, self-development. As Stewart explains, “life is a perpetual discovery of your own habits and perceptions. This record is about digging into and embracing those less favourable parts of yourself in order to shed them. The hope is always to find the most authentic self, while honouring who you once were and who you could be.”
Order Mouth Full of Glass: https://fulltimehobby.ffm.to/mouthfullofglass.OYD