RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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In the spring of 2021, three strangers — Cinya Khan, Judah Mayowa, and Maya Rae — sang together for the first time in a dorm room at Berklee College. It began on DM.
"I found them both on Instagram because we had started at Berkeley during Covid, so kind of the way you would make friends was online," Rae says. "Initially, I just thought they were both amazing singers, obviously, and I just wanted to be their friends. I thought they were so cool."
It was Mayowa who showed up at Rae's dorm first. "It was my first time really going out on my own in a place that wasn't home," Mayowa says. "I don't think I had met anyone as good as them before."
Then, Khan knocked. Earlier, Khan had posted a public plea on Instagram about the dorm's elusive toilet paper handles and Rae responded, later inviting her to join them to sing. "I knocked on her door — shaking, so scared," Khan recalls.
That night, after a few YouTube karaoke tracks, they recorded their first video together: a clip of the trio harmonizing to Kacey Musgraves ' 2018 Golden Hour track, "Happy & Sad."
When the semester ended, they couldn't wait to get together again. "I went home for the summer only thinking about singing with them," says Rae.
From there, things moved quickly. The friends went from recording videos of themselves dropping mesmerizing harmonies in stairwell corners and dorms — going viral and catching the attention of luminaries from the likes of David Crosby and Elton John — to writing their first ballad together months later and settling on their name: Tiny Habits.
The newly formed band released their debut album, All For Something , in May 2024. The LP was a hit, filled with romantic and wistful melodies lifted by their intimate folk-pop sound. It was followed by a succession of opening tour spots with Gracie Abrams (who surprised them with a congratulatory cake), James Taylor , Sarah McLachlan , and Noah Kahan .
"Gracie does a really good job of making everyone feel like they're valuable [on tour]," says Khan. "Noah's the sweetest. James Taylor, obviously, the best," adds Rae. "They've all just been very kind to us." Editor’s picks The 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century So Far The 100 Best TV Episodes of All Time The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century
The momentum around them continues to grow: features on tracks with Holly Humberstone, JP Saxe, Lizzy McAlpine, and Joe Jonas; a buzzy performance at Matty Healy and Gabbriette Bechtel's Los Angeles wedding; and, in a full-circle moment, a "Perfection" collaboration with Musgraves on her Deeper Well expanded edition , Deeper Into the Well .
Now, five years after colliding in that fateful dorm room, Tiny Habits have released their sophomore album, Keepers , out now. The record is a sumptuous departure from their debut, filled with the complicated stories of love, yes, but also love's more prickly siblings: desire, guilt, self-doubt, delusion, anger, freedom, and bittersweet joy.
It's a balmy afternoon at the Rolling Stone offices in Los Angeles when Khan, Mayowa, and Rae come by to discuss their new LP. They say that on the drive in, they were freestyling with a bass on their lap. "Crying, laughing, it's so fun," smiles Khan.
There's a cup of pens at the center of the table between us and Khan politely asks if she can use one. "I like to hold a pen during interviews," Khan says. The others follow suit and for the next hour, there's a delightful clicking melody that soundtracks our conversation. Related Content Taylor Swift Releases ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ Album & Swifties Are Celebrating With Fan-Inspired Merch Taylor Swift’s ‘The Life of a Showgirl’: Here’s Where to Buy Every Edition of the New Album María of the Marías Asks ‘Is Love Worth the Pain’ on New Solo Project Tyler, the Creator Unveils New Album ‘Don’t Tap the Glass’ Will Release on Monday
We quickly dive into Keepers . The 12-track offering is sonically sharper than the last, the production vivid and intentional, and more markedly, the record sees Khan, Mayowa, and Rae tell their own narratives for the first time. When working between albums, the group discussed writing a little less about romance — which they say can be an oversaturated topic — and tapping into their personal backgrounds.
"I think our fan base only knew a certain part of our world," Rae says. "We just knew there are so many people out there who can relate to so much of what we have to say and with this record, we wanted to dig into that."
Mayowa adds, "On Keepers , we tell our stories together and also give ourselves space to tell our own stories, supported by the other's background vocals." Mayowa refers to "Pattern of a Person," a song reflecting on generational trauma and childhood hopes. It begins with a voicemail recording of Mayowa and his brother when they were kids, before the gut-punch lyric: "When I was nine/My mother drove by houses dreaming/Promising life would one day be this easy."
Then there's "Survivor's Guilt," a devastating tale of disconnect and growth that Khan wrote about a past relationship, later realizing it was also about her family and friends from her past. "That was an interesting experience — when you write a song and then later realize what it was about," she says.
There are moments of irony, too. "Someone You Love," one of the LP's most buoyant songs, began as pushback against label requests to produce a pop hit and turned out to be just that — albeit coated with slick lines about a lover's request to take them as they are or as someone they hate. "It's totally what everyone wants but…," begins Rae, before Mayowa concludes, "also about not wanting to give them what they ask for."
Wherever the needle drops on the record, Tiny Habit's dedication to writing music according to their own ambitions is clear from the guilty consciousness of "Belt Loop" to the standout, wickedly upbeat "Love Ruins Everything."
"The album is reflective of how we've grown as peop...
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