Maryjo (stylized maryjo) has released her new single, “I Woke Up.” An alternative pop retelling of the story of Maryjo falling out of love with her ex-boyfriend after he had treated her wrong in the relationship. The actions he took, including lovebombing, lying, and cheating, hurt Maryjo. Yet, she still took him back “‘cause [she’s] a dreamer,” that believed she could repair the relationship, saying that she “[was] thinking [she] could fix a cheater.” After all the repeating in the relationship, Maryjo has finally had enough, saying that she “thought [she] was in love but…[she] woke up.” With the alarm going off, Maryjo broke off the relationship and ended that toxic cycle that was in her life.
I really liked how the production matched the emotion throughout the song. Listeners can hear the build-up of the explosion that is the chorus throughout the verses, matching up with how retelling the story of something that made you really angry to friends: you feel it all over again, and it builds until it just explodes again. Maryjo not only exudes that emotion well through the lyrics, but her vocals match up to the production in terms of energy and performance. It is a well-done, great-energy performance that Maryjo executes easily. Overall, if Maryjo continues to go down this road of alt-pop performances–something that seems to suit her voice well–she’s hooked me.
Maryjo is also known as Mary Jo Young. First finding a following on Tiktok, Maryjo got the public’s attention when she competed on the 19th season of American Idol. During the competition, she reached the top 24 before being eliminated and free to explore her solo career. Now, with over 159,000 monthly listeners on Spotify and over 110,000 followers on Instagram, Maryjo is on the verge of breaking through to the mainstream. Outside of music, Maryjo has “an awesome family, amazing friends, and Bo - the best dog [she] could ever hope for.” If you like “I Woke Up,” also make sure to check out the last single she released before this and her first single of 2024, “Drunk Tattoo.”
Written By Abby Mornhinweg
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