Mary Middlefield wields a powerful, vulnerable intimacy in “Heart’s Desire”

Fairy tales are often set in the past, but not in a defined period of history, and they usually have a happy ending where the hero triumphs over adversity. Most fairy tales begin with 'once upon a time' or 'a long time ago,' and end with telling the reader that the characters 'lived happily ever after.' Well, once upon in a quiet town in Switzerland, a former student of classical violin named Mary Middlefield lived a complicated and toxic breakup which pushed her to pen her pain.

After releasing this debut collection of songs last year, Mary Middlefield returns with a brand new single titled "Heart's Desire", alongside a live music video, following recent singles "Sexless" and "Atlantis". On the new song, she brings her revered gentle vocals and cinematic instrumentation to undoubtably some of her most personal moments of autobiographical writing. Her stream-of-consciousness song drifts between indie-rock fuelled intensity and a folk-inspired softness, inspired by the likes of Radiohead, The 1975, and Phoebe Bridgers.

Speaking on the track, Middlefield explains: "It’s a song about statutory rape and knowingly falling for someone who’s manipulating you and inappropriately older than you. It’s not a love song and it shouldn’t be seen that way. As young women, we’re often preyed on by people with authority who not only use toxic methods to get the results they’d like, but also project their desires, whether sexual, professional or both. I really wanted to put that in a song, i.e, how it feels to live through the abuse and experience it first-hand. I don’t want to give too much of my personal experience away: most of it is already in the song anyway."

Graced by a remarkable intimacy, the song is designed with guitar and strings, while Middlefield's voice delivers unwavering, yet emotional and sincere truths. Once again delivering on that now trusted moving, nostalgic, and introspective intimacy that she established in Thank You Alexander, she continues to prove that audiences better hold onto this folk gem.