"Maybe I'm Wrong" arrives with the kind of title that could either signal self-deprecation or a sly bit of philosophical hedging, and the song itself occupies much the same territory. Built around live band dynamics rather than studio trickery, it possesses the restless energy of a performer who's spent 2025 traversing seven countries and gracing stages from The Bitter End in New York to The Troubadour in London. You can hear it in every bar: this isn't a track that's been assembled so much as captured, preserved in the state it was meant to exist.
Engel's stated philosophy—"If something works live, I don't see the point in fixing it"—might sound like laziness to the untrained ear, but it's actually a rather bold stance against the current tide of over-polished, Auto-Tuned homogeneity. The minimal intervention approach means we're left with a recording that breathes and moves like an actual band in an actual room, complete with all the human imperfections that entails. It's the kind of decision that separates artists who trust their instincts from those who trust their plugins.
The stream-of-consciousness writing style keeps the lyrics from settling into predictable patterns, which suits the restless quality of the arrangement perfectly. This isn't a song that resolves neatly or ties its themes up with a bow—it ends because it must, not because it's reached any particular conclusion. That unresolved quality is precisely the point. We live in unresolved times, and Engel seems content to reflect that tension rather than manufacture false certainty.
What's particularly noteworthy is how Engel manages to straddle the folk-indie divide without falling into either camp's typical trappings. The folk influence provides the depth and lyrical substance, while the indie rock framework delivers the accessibility and forward momentum. It's a balancing act that few artists manage convincingly, and the fact that he's pulling it off while maintaining a distinctly uptempo, human feel speaks to a songwriter who understands how to play to his strengths.
His debut album *Roam Like A Wave* has already accumulated an impressive array of laurels—a Best Song award at the Oniros Film Awards, finalist placement at the New York International Film Awards, and recognition in the Spanish edition of Rolling Stone, which named "Escape Game" among 25 essential playlist refreshers. These aren't the kind of accolades that typically land on artists who play it safe, and "Maybe I'm Wrong" continues that trajectory of creative risk-taking.
The track's indie-alternative rock classification feels both accurate and insufficient. Yes, it has the guitar-driven urgency and DIY ethos that defines contemporary indie rock, but it also possesses a live-wire unpredictability that's harder to pin down. This is music made by someone who's spent considerable time honing material in front of actual audiences, and that experience shows. The song knows when to push forward and when to pull back, when to lock into a groove and when to let things get a bit messy.
Currently based in Dublin to record new material, Engel appears to be building momentum at precisely the right pace—not rushing to capitalise on early success, but steadily expanding his sonic palette and geographic reach. The 2025 selection for the Orquevaux Artist Residency in France (limited to just 25 artists worldwide) suggests that the wider artistic community recognises the potential here.
"Maybe I'm Wrong" won't be for everyone. Those who prefer their indie rock meticulously produced and radio-ready might find it too rough around the edges. But for listeners who value authenticity over polish, who appreciate the sound of a band actually playing together rather than assembling parts in isolation, this single offers a compelling alternative to the algorithmic blandness that dominates so much contemporary music. Engel may indeed be wrong about some things, but his instincts about how this song should sound appear to be absolutely correct.
