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Máni Orrason is having a frank conversation with himself in the self-deprecating ‘Just Can’t Have It All’, released on May 5th, 2022 via Groenland Records.
The latest single has Orrason’s insecurities posited through pounding drums and strings for a bombastic air and perfectly sets the tone of what is to come in his upcoming album ‘The World is Big and You Will Never Find Me’, released on August 29th, 2022.
Finding himself internally suspended between fantasy and reality, his new album was written at a point in Orrason’s life where new opportunities were on the horizon meaning he had to make important decisions about which avenue to pursue next. More importantly, it left him pondering whether he should believe his own hype or lean into his more grounded existence;
“So much of the album is me trying to hide in public or run away or something; the spectrum of genres and sound is so fast, somehow. It feels cohesive now, but while I was making it, it felt really insane. That was why it was tough to find a title for it, because it felt so vast.”
This vastness is best encapsulated by the tracks that bookend the album, the euphoric emo of ‘Just Can’t Have It All’, and the sharply defiant ‘Change the World’ [released June 25th, 2021].
For all its bittersweet euphoria, ‘Just Can’t Have It All’ surmises the persistence of existing in your comfort zone for fear of letting your walls drop – “Crying in the bathroom, I age but I don’t change…Some people wear their sadness like it’s armour.”
“I feel like there are two kinds of people,” explains Orrason. “People that love conflict, and to resolve – even if that means anger and feelings truly expressed – and people that are more afraid of risking problems than the conflict and resolution.”
He realises that he internalises a lot. “That’s kind of my feeling, like it’s an armour that protects you because it doesn’t blow up either way.”
Always wearing his heart on his sleeve, having kind hands to guide him through the process provided Orrason with the opportunity for closure, and letting go of his past. This newfound perspective and empathy towards himself and his work has finally liberated him for a more galvanised future.
“My Dad said to me the other week, ‘Máni, you need to move forward, no matter what happens to you in life, you have to keep going and not bury your head in the sand’, and I think that’s true,” he says.
“With the storyline of the album, that’s kind of sad and confused and desperate and whatever, it’s still grand and confident despite all the shit I sing about. I wear this on my sleeve, and I mean it.”
