"A voice that feels like a secret shared in a Soho dive bar and an anthem shouted from a cathedral."

W: Loran Doon

Following her recent triumph as Breakthrough Act of the Year at the Jazz FM Awards 2025, Liverpool-based neo-jazz artist Ni Maxine delivers a profound and emotionally unguarded statement with her debut EP, Mother’s Arms. Released via Ripe Records, the body of work serves as a sonic map of Maxine’s journey from internal chaos to a grounded sense of self, deftly navigating the complexities of identity, generational trauma, and the search for belonging. Anchored by the soulful resonance of previous singles "Time" and "Not For Me," the EP draws on her 2019 relocation to Liverpool—her mother’s childhood home—to bridge the gap between ancestral history and personal healing. Maxine’s song writing sits in a powerful duality, blending the tenderness of maternal love with the grit required to confront past chapters of addiction and the "outsider" status she felt as a light-skinned girl in a darker-skinned family.

"In Mother’s Arms, the 'Mother Land' isn't a place on a map—it’s the radical act of self-acceptance."

The title track, "Mother’s Arms," acts as the project's emotional heartbeat, reflecting on the visceral safety of a mother’s embrace while unpacking the complicated inheritances passed through lineages. Ultimately, the EP is a masterful act of "mothering" her younger self, proving that identity is not a destination found in a "Mother Land," but a state of freedom rooted in radical self-acceptance.