It’s been a good while since Tom Meikle’s been around, so two singles as Mappe Of in the span of three months would seem to indicate there’s more from him coming down the tracks later this year. If you needed a refresher, the Torontonian was last on the scene about five-and-a-half years ago with The Isle of Ailynn before being forced out of the spotlight due to the pandemic.
Given how involved Meikle’s songwriting process is, it makes sense that he’d wait until he had something worth saying before making a reappearance, and ‘Happiness in the Singularity’ & ‘Honeyhaze’ prove that he was right to bide his time. Of the latter, a song that finds beauty amongst a feeling of impending doom, Meikle says: “This track is about a couple, living in an idyllic setting, but reckoning with the knowledge that the end is nigh, as the world falls apart around them. When I started writing this song, I pictured myself sitting by a radio, listening to news of impending doom, then getting up and putting on the kettle. Life persists. It got me thinking about what love looks like when there’s no future. How would it change how we behave, how we show love? I think that’s where the lyrics are coming from, a place of love without inhibition. ‘Tried to love you like the world was dying.’ I’ve always struggled with writing ‘love songs’, but I think I finally managed it with this one.”
He worked with his wife, Amelia Fraser-Meikle, on the video for ‘Honeyhaze’, and we’re delighted to premiere the clip below. An undeniably gorgeous song, it’s out tomorrow on Paper Bag Records—go back and listen to his first two records once you’ve soaked it in, while we wait for Mappe Of’s next move.
