Maggie Rogers’ (@maggierogers) sophomore album, ‘Surrender,’ narrates the freeing feeling of doing just that – surrendering to the “full existence of living.” The album title mirrors her Harvard Masters thesis, “Surrender: Cultural Consciousness, the Spirituality of Public Gatherings, & the Ethics of Power in Pop Culture,” and sets out to investigate the question of ‘How do you use music as a tool to bring people together?’ (@ellecanada) Rogers recently graduated from Harvard Divinity School in May with a degree in religion and public life. “I feel super religious, if music is a religion,” she said to @nytimes. “When I’m in the crowd of fans or onstage, that’s when I felt the most connected to something greater than myself.” At the @roughtradenyc signing celebrating the album release, we asked fans: "Which song did you connect to most on the album, and why?" A popular response was “Begging for Rain,” a track that brings hints of subtlety, even with the exuberant Jon Batiste on melodica. The gentleness of the track compliments its reflections on futility, all while continuing to provide a cathartic release. She sings, “You work all day to find religion/And end up standing in your kitchen/Wondering ‘bout the way it's always been.” “It's so forward and it literally moves me to tears every time I hear it because it just captures that desperate feeling of wanting a relief from that anger and having no control over things,” said @pibbygarrahan, whose own music draws inspiration from Rogers. “That's exactly how I feel like, all the time about so many different things in the world and my own personal relationships.” Other fans echoed this sentiment of turning to Rogers for inspiration and solace. @noelle_def, a student at @nyusteinhardtvp, was in a “bad mind space” when she stumbled upon Rogers. “I saw [how vulnerable and open she was with her music] and wanted to do that as well. She sings completely from the heart, and I aspire to be like that as a songwriter,” Noelle shared. Swipe to hear more from Rogers’ fans on how they connected to Surrender. Photos/Interviews/Graphics by @alyssa.Goldberg for SoS