Heard It in a Past Life

Heard It in a Past Life
Studio album by Maggie Rogers
Released	January 18, 2019 (2019-01-18)
Genre	Indie pop electropop folk-pop
Length	45:27
Label	Debay Capitol
Producer	Maggie Rogers Greg Kurstin Doug Schadt Ricky Reed Kid Harpoon Jack Hallenbeck Lucio Westmoreland Nick Das Rostam
Maggie Rogers chronology
Now That the Light Is Fading (2017) Heard It in a Past Life (2019) Notes from the Archive: Recordings 2011–2016 (2020)
Singles from Heard It in a Past Life
"Alaska" Released: October 14, 2016 "On + Off" Released: January 17, 2017 "Fallingwater" Released: May 23, 2018 "Give a Little" Released: July 27, 2018 "Light On" Released: October 10, 2018 "Burning" Released: January 4, 2019

Heard It in a Past Life is the debut studio album by American indie pop singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers, released on January 18, 2019, by Debay Sounds and Capitol Records. With help from its hit single "Light On" (2018), the album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart and received mostly positive reviews from critics, eventually earning Rogers a Grammy Award nomination for Best New Artist.

Recording and production

Rogers worked on the album for two years, with Rostam Batmanglij, Greg Kurstin, and other high-profile musicians in producer roles. ^[1] Rogers stated in an interview about the album that "there was so much change that happened so fast, I wasn't always sure how to make all this stuff feel like me. I was really overwhelmed for a while, and scared too." ^{[2] [3]}

Marketing and sales

The first two singles, "Alaska" and "On + Off", were previously released on Rogers' 2017 EP, Now That the Light Is Fading , followed by "Fallingwater", "Give a Little" and "Light On". ^{[4] [5]} "Light On" peaked at number one on Billboard's Adult Alternative Songs chart, becoming her first number one song on any Billboard chart. ^[6] "Light On" was ranked as the 13th best song of 2019 by Billboard. ^[7]

Heard It in a Past Life was released on January 18, 2019, by Debay Sounds under exclusive license to Capitol Records. ^[8] According to Rolling Stone , it "announced her as a major indie-pop force and catapulted her into a yearlong tour of sold-out theaters and massive clubs". ^[9] It debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 in its first release week, and by April, it had sold 200,000 album-equivalent units. Since its 2019 release, the album has amassed more than 900 million streams on Spotify. ^[10]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.0/10 [11]
Metacritic	71/100 [12]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[13]
Chicago Tribune	[14]
Clash	8/10 [15]
Exclaim!	8/10 [16]
The Guardian	[17]
The Irish Times	[18]
NME	[19]
Pitchfork	5.9/10 [20]
Q	[21]
Rolling Stone	[22]

Heard It in a Past Life was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 71, based on 23 reviews. ^[12] Tony Clayton-Lea of The Irish Times called it a "vibrant electro-pop collection", ^[18] while USA Today 's Maeve McDermott hailed it as one of 2019's best folk-pop albums, along with Weyes Blood's Titanic Rising . ^[23] Q magazine found the album "thoughtfully constructed and often enchanting", ^[21] and AllMusic's Heather Phares said Rogers "finds different ways to forge her own bright, assured version of pop" on a "strong debut". ^[13]

Other reviewers were more critical. Both Laura Snapes of Pitchfork ^[20] and Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune believed much of the album was overproduced by high-profile co-producers to the detriment of Rogers' talents. ^[14] Tom Hull said he "could see her developing into some kind of pop star, but may be too adult too early", giving the album a B-plus. ^[24]

Heard It in a Past Life and "Light On" helped earn Rogers a Grammy Award nomination in the category of Best New Artist for the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards (2020). ^[25]

Rankings

Publication	List	Rank	Ref
Albumism	Albumism's 50 Best Albums of 2019	38	[26]
Billboard	The 50 Best Albums of 2019	5	[27]
Chorus.fm	Top 25 Albums of 2019	23	[28]
Complex	The 50 Best Albums of 2019	25	[29]
Consequence of Sound	The Top 50 Albums of 2019	25	[30]
Esquire	20 Best Albums of 2019	N/A	[31]
GQ	Best Albums of 2019	N/A	[32]
Inside Hook	20 Best Albums of 2019	N/A	[33]
The New Yorker	The Best Music of 2019	N/A	[34]
Paste	The 50 Best Albums of 2019	26	[35]
PopCrush	Best Pop Albums of 2019	N/A	[36]
Rolling Stone	50 Best Albums of 2019	41	[37]
Vice	The 100 Best Albums of 2019	88	[38]

"N/A" indicates that the publication did not rank the works included in their year-end list.

Track listing

Track listing and credits adapted from Tidal. ^[39]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Give a Little"	Margaret Rogers Greg Kurstin	Kurstin Rogers [a]	3:46
2.	"Overnight"	Rogers Kurstin	Kurstin Rogers [b]	3:20
3.	"The Knife"	Rogers Kurstin	Kurstin Rogers [a]	3:59
4.	"Alaska"	Rogers Doug Schadt	Rogers Doug Schadt	3:08
5.	"Light On"	Rogers Thomas Hull	Kurstin Kid Harpoon Rogers [a]	3:53
6.	"Past Life"	Rogers	Rogers	3:36
7.	"Say It"	Rogers Tor Miller Jack Hallenbeck	Rogers Hallenbeck Ricky Reed Lucio Westmoreland [a]	3:40
8.	"On + Off"	Rogers Nicholas Das	Rogers Schadt Das	3:41
9.	"Fallingwater"	Rogers Rostam Batmanglij	Rogers Batmanglij	4:31
10.	"Retrograde"	Rogers Kurstin	Kurstin Rogers [a]	4:11
11.	"Burning"	Rogers Eric Frederic	Rogers Reed	3:33
12.	"Back in My Body"	Rogers	Rogers Kurstin	4:09
Total length:				45:27

• ^a signifies an additional producer
• ^b signifies a co-producer

Personnel

Musicians

• Maggie Rogers – vocals (all tracks), clapping (1), piano (3, 6), percussion (5, 10), programming (8), background vocals (9); drums, keyboards (12)
• Greg Kurstin – drums, keyboards (1–3, 5, 10, 12), bass (1, 3, 5, 10), guitar (1, 3, 5, 10, 12), synth bass (2, 12), piano (3, 5, 10, 12), percussion (10, 12)
• Doug Schadt – programming (4, 8)
• Kid Harpoon – acoustic guitar, bass guitar, drum programming, electric guitar, piano (5)
• Nicholas Das – programming (8)
• Rostam Batmanglij – 12-string acoustic guitar, background vocals, drum programming, piano, shaker, synthesizer programming (9)

Technical

• Emily Lazar – mastering (1–3, 5–7, 9–12)
• Serban Ghenea – mixing (1–3, 5, 7, 10–12)
• Tony Maserati – mixing (4, 8)
• Tom Elmhirst – mixing (6, 9)
• John Hanes – mix engineering (1–3, 5, 7, 10–12)
• Tyler Scott – mix engineering (4, 8)
• Zach Hancock – mix engineering (4, 8)
• Alex Pasco – engineering (1–3, 5, 10, 12)
• Greg Kurstin – engineering (1–3, 5, 10, 12)
• Julian Burg – engineering (1–3, 5, 10, 12)
• Doug Schadt – engineering (4)
• Zach Hancock – engineering (4)
• Chandler Harrod – engineering (6)
• Ethan Shumaker – engineering (7, 11)
• Jack Hallenbeck – engineering (7)
• Maggie Rogers – engineering (7)
• Nicholas Das – engineering (8)
• Rostam Batmanglij – engineering (9)
• Chris Allgood – mastering assistance (1–3, 5–7, 9, 11, 12)
• Brandon Bost – mixing assistance (9)
• Dalton Ricks – engineering assistance (9)
• Nick Rowe – engineering assistance (9)

Charts

Chart (2019)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [40]	8
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [41]	92
Canadian Albums (Billboard) [42]	10
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [43]	95
Irish Albums (IRMA) [44]	30
Scottish Albums (OCC) [45]	18
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [46]	49
UK Albums (OCC) [47]	25
US Billboard 200 [48]	2
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard) [49]	1
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard) [50]	3

Certifications

Certifications for Heard It in a Past Life

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [51]	Gold	40,000‡
United States (RIAA) [52]	Gold	500,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Batmanglij, Rostam (January 22, 2019). "Rostam tells Maggie Rogers that it's time she shed her musical skin". Interview . Retrieved July 11, 2020.
2. "New Release: Maggie Rogers – Heard It In A Past Life / Light On". Thank Folk For That. October 12, 2018. Archived from the original on August 23, 2019. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
3. "Heard It in a Past Life – Maggie Rogers – Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic . Retrieved November 20, 2018.
4. Kaye, Ben (October 11, 2018). "Maggie Rogers announces debut album, Heard It in a Past Life, shares "Light On"". Consequence of Sound . Retrieved November 20, 2018.
5. Sodomsky, Sam (October 10, 2018). "Maggie Rogers Announces Debut Album, Shares New Song 'Light On': Listen". Pitchfork . Retrieved November 20, 2018.
6. Rutherford, Kevin (January 8, 2019). "Maggie Rogers Lands First Billboard No. 1 as 'Light On' Shines Atop Adult Alternative Songs Chart". Billboard. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
7. "The 100 Best Songs of 2019: Staff List". Billboard . December 11, 2019. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
8. Murray, Robin (October 11, 2018). "Maggie Rogers Announces New Album 'Heard It In A Past Life'". Clash . Retrieved November 20, 2018.
9. Martoccio, Angie; Bernstein, Jonathan (November 20, 2019). "Grammys 2020: Meet the Best New Artist Nominees". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
10. "Maggie Rogers - Spotify Top Albums".
11. "Heard It in a Past Life by Maggie Rogers reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
12. "Reviews for Heard It in a Past Life by Maggie Rogers". Metacritic . Retrieved January 18, 2019.
13. "Heard It in a Past Life – Maggie Rogers". AllMusic . Retrieved January 18, 2019.
14. Kot, Greg (January 25, 2019). "Maggie Rogers lets bombast rule on debut album, 'Heard It in a Past Life'". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved July 11, 2020.
15. "Maggie Rogers – Heard It in a Past Life". Clash . January 17, 2019. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
16. "Maggie Rogers – Heard It in a Past Life". Exclaim! . Retrieved January 18, 2019.
17. Hunt, Elle (January 18, 2019). "Maggie Rogers: Heard It in a Past Life review – Alaska hitmaker's debut lacks edge". The Guardian . Retrieved January 18, 2019.
18. Clayton-Lea, Tony (January 9, 2019). "Maggie Rogers: Heard it in a Past Life review – Vibrant electro-pop collection". The Irish Times . Retrieved July 11, 2020.
19. "Maggie Rogers – 'Heard It In A Past Life' review". NME . January 10, 2019. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
20. "Maggie Rogers: Heard It in a Past Life Album Review". Pitchfork . Retrieved January 22, 2019.
21. Anon. (February 2019). "Heard It in a Past Life". Q . p. 110.
22. "Review: Maggie Rogers Makes Good on Pop-Phenom Promise with 'Heard It in a Past Life'". Rolling Stone . January 16, 2019. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
23. McDermott, Maeve (June 18, 2019). "The best albums of 2019 so far, from Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish and more". USA Today . Retrieved July 11, 2020.
24. Hull, Tom (July 23, 2019). "Music Week". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
25. Phares, Heather (n.d.). "Maggie Rogers". AllMusic. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
26. "Albumism's 50 Best Albums of 2019 | #38: Maggie Rogers' 'Heard It In A Past Life'". Albumism. November 26, 2019. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
27. "The 50 Best Albums of 2019: Staff Picks". Billboard. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
28. "Chorus.fm's Top 25 Albums of 2019". Chorus.fm. January 6, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
29. "The Best Albums of 2019". Complex. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
30. "Top 50 Albums of 2019". Consequence of Sound. December 2, 2019. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
31. Miller, Matt; Vain, Madison (December 10, 2019). "The Best Albums of 2019". Esquire. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
32. "The GQ Staff's 21 Favorite Albums of 2019". GQ. December 3, 2019. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
33. "The 100 Best Songs (and 20 Best Albums) of 2019". InsideHook. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
34. Petrusich, Amanda (December 3, 2019). "The Best Music of 2019 and the Best Music of the Decade". The New Yorker. ISSN   0028-792X . Retrieved December 16, 2019.
35. "The 50 Best Albums of 2019". pastemagazine.com. November 27, 2019. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
36. "The 25 Best Albums of 2019". PopCrush. December 2, 2019. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
37. Jonathan Bernstein; Jon Blistein; Jon Dolan; Patrick Doyle; Brenna Ehrlich; Suzy Exposito; Jon Freeman; David Fricke; Kory Grow; Will Hermes; Christian Hoard; Charles Holmes; Joseph Hudak; Brendan Klinkenberg; Elias Leight; Angie Martoccio; Claire Shaffer; Rob Sheffield; Hank Shteamer; Brittany Spanos; Simon Vozick-Levinson (December 5, 2019). "The 50 Best Albums of 2019". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
38. Jenkins, Alex (December 12, 2019). "The 100 Best Albums of 2019". Vice. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
39. "Heard It in a Past Life / Maggie Rogers". Tidal . Retrieved February 14, 2020.
40. "Australiancharts.com – Maggie Rogers – Heard It in a Past Life". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
41. "Ultratop.be – Maggie Rogers – Heard It in a Past Life" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
42. "Maggie Rogers Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
43. "Dutchcharts.nl – Maggie Rogers – Heard It in a Past Life" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
44. "Dodie lands the highest new entry on the Official Irish Albums Chart as The Greatest Showman scores 20th week at Number 1". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
45. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
46. "Swisscharts.com – Maggie Rogers – Heard It in a Past Life". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
47. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
48. "Maggie Rogers Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
49. "Maggie Rogers Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
50. "Maggie Rogers Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
51. "Canadian album certifications – Maggie Rogers – Heard It in a Past Life". Music Canada . Retrieved September 11, 2020.
52. "American album certifications – Maggie Rogers – Heard It in a Past Life". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved January 18, 2024.

External links

• Heard It in a Past Life at Discogs (list of releases)