Georgia Maq Finds Softness on God’s Favourite

Georgia Maq laughs at herself when she says it: “I’m still completely insane. But in a cuter, girlier way.”

It’s not what you might expect to hear from the voice that once fronted Camp Cope, a band revered for their confessional and at times, confrontational lyrics. Tracks like “The Opener,” called for honest conversations about sexism in the music industry, and carried the band into international acclaim. On Maq’s new solo EP, God’s Favourite (out September 4 via Maq’s own label, 1000 Rats Records), it’s clear that she isn’t interested in recreating former versions of herself.

Georgia Maq. Photo courtesy of the artist.

“I've kind of accepted who I am, and embraced that a little bit more,” she says. “I'm not even sure if that person who I was in Camp Cope was an honest reflection of who I am. I think the reactions that I had were an honest reflection of beliefs that I held. But I don't identify as that person anymore.” 

What’s stayed the same in her solo work is Maq’s ability to write from a place of true honesty. Maq has never been afraid of writing from her own life, even when the weight of her confessions became crushing. She’s spoken openly about regretting Camp Cope’s “Face of God,” a song about sexual assault that led to countless fans sharing their own trauma with her. “I wish I didn’t put that much into the world,” she admits. “At the same time, people felt like their story was being told and I’m grateful for that.” She’s proud she could be part of that experience for so many fans, but when reflecting on the song she says “I don’t want to relive [performing the song live] ever again. I want to sing about nicer things.”

If Camp Cope’s discography was an outlet for her anger, Maq’s solo work gives her the opportunity to explore something softer, and shed a skin that no longer fits.

That change happened for her in Los Angeles, where Maq moved two and a half years ago. She left her family and friends behind, slept in someone’s garage for the first six weeks, and forced herself to start again. “It was completely life changing,” she says. “It really made me have to figure out who I was on my own… it felt like I moved to another planet for a bit.”

Her reinvention is letting her explore familiar topics in a new way. “All my songs are kind of about longing and love. I feel like that's a very big part of who I am,” she says. “All I want to do is be in love. But I'm not sure if it's on the cards for me in life.”

Her raw honesty has not dissipated across the lyrics on God’s Favourite. The title itself comes from her song “Pay Per View,” inspired partly by her own time on OnlyFans. “God's watching my OnlyFans and God still loves me,” she says with a laugh. “I dedicate Pay Per View to sex workers, because I love them.”

God's Favourite.

Though these songs are hers, God’s Favourite is also a testament to Maq’s creative partnership with producer, songwriter and composer Daniel Fox (whose co-writing credits include Tyler, the Creator and Benny Blanco). Their first collaboration together, “Mercy and Grace,” became one of her favourites. “We wrote that within like two days of knowing each other and automatically I was just like, okay, you’re like the only person I want to make music with forever,” she says.

Maq has only ever let one lyric into her catalogue that wasn’t her own: “If I’m gonna die, I’m gonna do it in style,” a line Fox wrote that made its way onto the single “Tropical Lush Ice.” The rest of her lyrics are entirely hers, “other people would write lyrics and I’d just be like, ‘I can’t sing this. Like this isn’t who I am,’” she says. “My music is like an extension of who I am as a person, and no one else can write or sing about my experience. I have to do it myself.” 

Elsewhere across the record, she dives deeper into themes of longing and self-sabotage. “Citronella” is the hangover of looking for love in hookups and not pursuing a relationship because it will “completely ruin” you; on “The LA River” she faces down her mortality and “dying kind of – but in like a cute and girly way;” and “Mercy and Grace” closes the EP with “ascending into heaven,” her way of exploring transcendence.

God’s Favourite lets Maq tell her story, her way. Her honesty is the through line across the record and the EP is further proof that Maq doesn’t need to shout to command attention anymore. From the very beginning, her singular voice was always more than enough.

God’s Favourite is out today on all streaming services.