Maya J’an releases “pocketknife” today via Soulpower Records / Warner Records, her second single following January’s “cul-de-sac.” Produced by Benjamin Greenspan and Jordan Brooks, the track opens on tense strings that settle into a warm, loping groove, with Maya’s vocals threading through lyrics that sit at the edge of self-protection and surrender. “I sleep on top of a pocket knife, he’s got me dreaming there is more to life,” she sings. “What in the fresh sam hell is this? Some sort of peace, some kind of bliss.”
“‘pocketknife’ is a song about what happens when a guarded heart accidentally starts to feel safe,” Maya says. “It lives in the space between toughness and tenderness, when you’ve spent your whole life sleeping with one eye open and suddenly someone makes you wonder what it would be like to rest. Survival means staying sharp, but love arrives anyway, not loudly but just enough to disrupt the armor. ‘pocketknife’ is a ballad that doesn’t pretend love fixes you. It just captures the moment when love makes you feel something new, wanting peace while keeping a blade within reach, trusting someone while still knowing how easily it could all fall apart.”
“pocketknife” follows “cul-de-sac,” a tribute to Maya’s hometown of Pasadena and the pieces of her childhood lost in the fires that devastated the region last year. Billboard called that debut “a striking debut,” while 1883 Magazine wrote that Maya J’an “is one of the most interesting voices in music, turning personal observation into vivid, evocative songwriting.” Before stepping forward as a recording artist, Maya built her reputation as a behind-the-scenes collaborator, writing alongside Pharrell, SAINt JHN, and Justine Skye, and earning a 2025 Juno Award for Contemporary R&B Recording of the Year via her co-write on Aqyila’s “Bloom.” More music is on the way.