You might not know the pseudonym Spacemoth, or the name of its creator Maryam Qudus, yet there’s a very good chance you’ve heard her impact on a record you love. Maryam has long dedicated herself to music, swapping chores for guitar lessons, working jobs to pay for voice-lessons, and doing everything she could to pursue her passion. The Afghan-American daughter of working-class immigrant parents, Maryam battled against cultural acceptance and family approval to become a musician, composer and an increasingly renowned engineer, who has worked with the likes of Sasami, Toro Y Moi and Zelma Stone. Maryam has previously shared her music under the Doe Eyes moniker, and is now gearing up to the release of the debut Spacemoth album, out early next year. Today we’re sharing the latest single from it, For The Last Time.

Discussing the inspiration behind the track, Maryam has suggested For The Last Time is, “a song about the uncertainties of death, and how it feels like it can happen to anyone we know or love at any time”. The song details a tendency of Maryam’s to live in fear of losing a loved one, here picturing a series of seemingly mundane events and imagining them doing them for the last time, “I saw my love make me some coffee, break me some chocolate, walk out the door, for the last time”. The track ends with her suggestion, “life is but a fleeting moment”, a reminder as she explains, “to appreciate life in the present while we still can”.

Musically, this is clearly the product of a person who has immersed herself in a variety of styles and plotted her own course. Here Maryam incorporates a musical landscape of cyclical guitar-lines and vintage synths, a wavering bed of manipulated sound. This results in an almost aquatic landscape where each crackle of static is given equal importance to more traditional melodic phrases.

For The Last Time feels like the result of an artist learning their trade, working out their own musical vision and creating something uniquely their own. As Maryam explains, “spending the last few years discovering what kind of music I want to make has been worth it; I feel like I am finally making music that embodies who I am”. We can’t wait to learn more about Maryam, on this evidence, this debut could be very special indeed.

For The Last Time is out tomorrow and you can order it now via Bandcamp. Click HERE for more information on Spacemoth.