listen to Maggie Rogers’ moving “Alaska”

A number of people have asked about this one since we included it in our favorite songs of 2016 list this week, which leads me to believe these people don't have Facebook, because Maggie Rogers is already blowing the hell up on the strength of an unfinished internet sensation of a track that your mom has probably already heard called "Alaska". The video below provides all the context you need, and you can tell Pharrell is genuinely moved by the track, which he calls "singular", before comparing it to Wu-Tang. Maggie already has a pretty great, more traditional folk record up on her bandcamp that has also now gone viral thanks to the vid, but the decidedly dancier "Alaska" sounds kind of like the powerful, harmonious pastoral folk of Mountain Man meets a Visions-era Grimes track. Listen below starting around the 18:20 mark, and look for the final version to drop very soon on Maggie's new EP:

[update: listen to the finished, mixed & mastered version of "Alaska" here]