Maggie Rogers is touring Australia on the back of her new record, Heard It In A Past Life. It’s buoyant and frequently beautiful. It nods to some classic sounds, yet it’s unmistakably modern. In short, it’s a good spin, and local audiences have been digging it.
Here’s another thing about Rogers: she was first exposed to a global audience through a 2016 viral video. It’s a blessing and a curse for the American that her story includes the baffled expression of hitmaker Pharrell Williams.
Last night’s edition of The Project focussed on the latter fact, and Rogers is… well, look. You might be tired of it too if discussions of your career were reduced to recaps of your meeting with another musician.
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Appearing on the panel last night, Rogers fielded questions about the time she demoed her music for Pharrell at New York University and his gobsmacked reaction. The 25-year-old was game, and obviously experienced in that line of questioning.
It went on, though. After Rogers indicated she was pretty keen to discuss other elements of her craft, panellist Tommy Little came up with a corker: “Did he smell good? Because I reckon he looks like he’d smell amazing.”
Cue a diplomatic response from the singer, and co-host Waleed Aly‘s statement “we should probably talk about your album.”
“Yeah, I’m really proud of it,” she said.
Breakout music sensation @maggierogers on the surreal moment her song became huge, how she sets herself apart in the music industry, and a cause very close to her heart. pic.twitter.com/0Gpf0uA6P3
— The Project (@theprojecttv) May 22, 2019
Taking to social media after the broadcast, Rogers shared a clip of the interaction with the caption “to clarify for future journalists – i have no idea what pharrell smells like.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BxxJ1UlFKh4/
On her Instagram Story, Rogers also reshared a post commenting on her surprised reaction to the question.
Whether this is the end of interviewers burrowing into that NYU meeting is yet to be seen. At least the show presented itself as a unique, digestible take on the news elsewhere in the broadca-
Ah.
