Piano player and songwriter Max Cooper III has announced that “Charades”, the sophomore single to his debut five-track EP The Overthinker is set to arrive on January 8th, 2025. The track “captures the struggle of trying to save an on-again, off-again relationship” and speaks to Pop music history. A previous release is the single “Sadie.”

Max says:

‘Charades’ is about being in a relationship with someone who goes back and forth between treating it like it’s a game and treating it like it’s real. It’s about deciding whether it’s worth staying. The irony is I’m singing about how I shouldn’t care anymore but writing the song shows how much I do care, can’t deny it.

He continues:

The arrangement on this track is my favorite on the EP.  Musically at times it feels more upbeat than the lyrics, kind of a metaphor for how you can pretend something is okay on the outside when on the inside it’s really not. ‘Charades’ is also the most complicated arrangement on the EP.  The acoustic guitar intros to the first and second verses describe that back-and-forth between emotional tranquility and all hell breaking loose in the confusion of mixed signals. Things just build musically with the escalating emotional turmoil caused by the contradictions in the relationship.

The Overthinker, set for release on Friday, February 28, 2025, was nearly two years in the making.

Max says about the EP:

All the songs share a common thread. I’m always in my own head way too much — my thoughts affecting my life, which is why I titled this project ‘The Overthinker.’