Margarita Shamrakov is a singer, pianist and award winning songwriter based in New York City. Her music is at once sophisticated and innocent, pairing complex musical arrangements with deceptively simple lyrics. On her latest release the Ukraine native cleverly intermingles themes of love, commercialism and social philosophy.
“Ihop Love” is Margarita’s new single and is an excellent example of her rich compositional technique and ingenue-meets-bard lyrical style. Musically the track features the singer alone at her piano. Nothing more is needed. Stylistically, her piano playing weaves classical melodic arpeggios and chordal structures with Thelonious Monk-esque offbeat Jazz flavored rhythms. It is a mesmerizing sound with equal parts discipline and freestyle improvisation.
Lyrically “Ihop Love” conjures images of our disposable culture to paint a picture of the superficiality inherent to it. Fast food, plastic and a failed relationship all fold together as symptoms of the same disease. She observes the reality that we are all so bombarded by the flashing lights and cacophony of modern life that it can leave us unable to connect with anything meaningful. She could be talking to her lover or to society as a whole when she sings, “You traded your heroes, you traded your love, for gold gloves and white sneakers, for bubble gum and dollar signs.”
It is a song about wanting to fill the void inside oneself. However sometimes it is hard to break through all the noise, all the superficial stuff. In the US, consumerism and bright colors sometimes blind us from seeing the real thing.
Margarita Shamrakov
Listen to “Ihop Love” on the Deep Indie Dive playlist. And follow the links below to connect with this talented and multifaceted artist.
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Margarita Shamrakov on the Deep Indie Dive playlist
