Maggie Rogers saddles up and goes all country on the polished and poetic ‘Love You For A Long Time’

Before 2019, you might have thought of country music as a dusty old genre full of sad-eyed Americans; emo for horse girls and farm boys. But the past 11 months have seen country get cool. Lil Nas X took it viral with ‘Old Town Road’ and made elder statesman Billy Ray Cyrus (slightly) relevant again. Kacey Musgraves became the hipster country-pop choice du jour, cemented by her meme-tastic “I didn’t say fucking yee” moment at Coachella. There’s been the rise of new stars like Orville Peck, The 1975’s Matty Healy dressing like an emo cowboy, and – if your group chats are anything like mine – a proliferation in the use of “yeehaw” to react to literally anything.

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Now, Maggie Rogers is saddling up and joining the gang on her first piece of new music since the release of her major label debut album ‘Heard It In A Past Life’ back in January. ‘Love You For A Long Time’ sounds like she’s decamped to Nashville, soaked up all the acoustic energy in the city and sat on her porch with the intentions of penning her own country classic.

“Came in like a vision from the old west wind / Like a bright new dream that I was stepping in,” Rogers begins, immediately transporting you to a dive bar whose walls are lined with cowboy boots, before doubling down with a rootsy acoustic chug. She falls into the more pop-leaning side of the genre; she isn’t concerned with making you feel sad, instead spinning out a love story so full of warmth and affection it becomes the song equivalent of the heart-eye emoji. That feeling reaches its peak as Rogers’ voice grows in intensity and sings to her diamond-eyed partner: “Come and break me down / Keep your hands in my hands / Keep your mouth on my mouth.”

‘Love You For A Long Time’ arrives one day after Rogers received her first Grammy nomination (for Best New Artist) and it sounds like something the Recording Academy would go nuts for – polished, poetic and full of innate confidence. It’s a very timely reminder that the musician deserves the awards recognition, and a beautiful song to warm your heart against the nip of winter.