Rising indie-rock talent Mary Middlefield kicks off the new year with her explosive new single Wake Up!, available now on all streaming platforms.
Wake Up! is a confrontational, high-voltage release built on thunderous drums, jagged indie guitars and a vocal that refuses to soften the blow. Urgent and unflinching, the track captures the moment where restraint collapses and raw emotion takes the wheel, a spiralling inner monologue where bitterness, self-disgust and projection blur into one volatile voice.
The repeated commands and cutting refrains feel deliberately abrasive, mirroring the claustrophobic headspace of someone lashing out while fully aware of their own ugliness. Its not provocation for shocks sake, but a brutally honest portrait of emotional collapse, loud, ugly, self-aware and impossible to ignore as she attempts to shed her own skin.
Accompanying the new track, the official music video places Mary in a fractured, claustrophobic space that mirrors the song’s internal chaos. Opening with Mary moving erratically in front of multiple mirrors, barefoot, grounded and splayed across the floor, she is both performer and observer, watching herself unfold on an old television screen. Flashing lights heighten the sense of disorientation, while positioning Mary as a solitary female presence standing her ground, fully aware of her own agency. The recurring use of reflections in mirrors, water and distorted surfaces reinforces the feeling of self-confrontation, as if she’s delivering a brutal but necessary reckoning to herself.
Middlefield explains: I wrote Wake Up! from a place where empathy shuts down and contempt takes over, including contempt for myself. The language is extreme because the headspace is extreme, not because its meant to incite violence or wish harm on anyone. Its about how self-loathing can rot into something loud, ugly, and confrontational, especially when you project it outward. The song doesnt celebrate that mindset or offer redemption; it exposes it. Its the sound of catching yourself at your worst and letting the tape keep rolling.
Wake Up! follows Marys breakout singles “The Feast”, Summer Affair, “Will You Read My Mind” and “Bite Me”, which earned playlist covers and radio support from BBC Radio 2, 6 Music, Radio X, SIRIUSXM, and beyond. Named one of Spotifys 2025 Artists to Watch, she is now putting the final touches on her second album, a bold and deeply personal record that explores identity, self-ownership, and what it means to belong to yourself.
Middlefields rapidly rising profile has been matched by critical acclaim, with praise from Hunger, The Line of Best Fit, Noctis, Wonderland and BBC Introducing. She has already made her mark on major stages, with standout performances at Glastonbury, Montreux Jazz Festival, Sofar Sounds and the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, cementing her reputation as one of the most compelling new voices in contemporary indie music.
The track was co-written alongside Anna Borkenhagen and Yvan Vindret and brought vividly to life by fellow co-writer and producer Gwen Buord. Together they frame Marys dramatic songwriting in sweeping sonic textures, with swelling orchestration and a vocal performance that refuses to hide.
“Wake Up!” is out now on all streaming platforms.