In 2024, Maximiano—the eponymous project of Milwaukee-based singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Maximiano Janairo—burst into local music consciousness with the release of their formal debut album, The Real Truth. The acclaimed record earned heaps of well-deserved praise and prompted a significant uptick in activity for Janairo, including sporadic tours, some impressive opening opportunities, a flurry of local festival appearances, and the release of a 2025 live album.
While matching the quality and overwhelmingly positive response of The Real Truth will be tough to do, Janairo seems up to the task. Last weekend, Maximiano announced their next album. That anticipated follow-up is entitled Rokeby—the name of the upstate New York region that helped to inspire the album’s songs—and it will officially be released on Wednesday, April 1. The album was written in the Hudson River Valley during “a 10-day dog-sitting gig,” and that homespun approach is evident on each of the album’s 10 tracks.
The isolated approach also extends to the recording process Janairo applied this time around, as they handle the majority of the album’s vocals, guitar, piano, synths, Wurlitzer, and even the inclusion of a “pixie harp” in addition to writing, producing, recording, and mixing the material. That being said, Maximiano gets some vocal and instrumental support from such Milwaukee music mainstays as Ellie Jackson, Old Pup’s Will Hansen, Dandy Freling, Kati Katchever, and Nick Lang along the way.
Beyond announcing Rokeby last weekend, Maximiano also debuted the album’s lead single. “Countryside” is said to reflect on “our current dystopia and the struggle against dehumanization under fascism.” The near-five-minute song manages to delicately weave beauty into heavy and emotional subject matter as the bandleader’s voice masterfully intertwines with Jackson’s patently tremendous pipes and rests atop a bed of percussion crafted by Lang. And yes, the “pixie harp” makes a cameo before song’s end as well.
Rokeby will be released on Wednesday, April 1 and will be commemorated with an album release show at Cactus Club on Saturday, April 4 that will feature opening support from Field Report and Ava Brennan. You can listen to “Countryside” now, and pre-order Rokeby in both digital and vinyl formats HERE.
