Max Blansjaar is still only 15 years old, still only just getting to grips with the rules.
Perhaps that's why he breaks them with such abandon, then. Deadpan, lo-fi pop tunes delivered with buzzsaw accuracy, his first release – 'Spit It Out!' – was pressed up on 50 cassettes by local label Beanie Tapes.
A work of stark, unassuming genius, it lashed together 21st century melodies to a keen eye for the past's more obscure elements.
'You're Always On My Mind' was a key moment on the EP, a potent pop mini-epic that refuses to pull its punches.
Reminiscent of everyone from early Beck through to King Krule, it's a fuzzy-buzzy delight with a curious stop-start melody.
The video finds Max playing with 35mm camera, the footage screwed up and slowed down as he patrols the aftermath of a party.
Max explains: “The lyrics are rooted largely in the same place as the music. I thought a bit about carelessness, about rules… that feeling of conscience versus instinct, in whatever context that may be. In hindsight though, it's just about sanity in general. Though, I reckon that's what all music as about.”
Tune in now.
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