Madison Malone

Today we have the premiere of emerging singer-songwriter Madison Malone's new single, "Flowers On Leather." The LA-based artist may look sweet on the outside, but you'll be surprised to hear the dark, scorching electro-pop she has to offer. On "Flowers On Leather," she explores the contrast found in humans with metaphors like "charcoal and ice," "dirt and gold," "relaxed control," and so on. In addition to the very apparent angst, the track is also packed with a ton of soul and a strong, rebellious chorus that's bound to get stuck in your head all day.

"I noticed that certain aspects of my personhood seemed conflicting and yet, could both be true at the same time," Malone told Baeble in a statement. "For instance, I could be introverted/extroverted, masculine/feminine, the darkness/the lightness, anxious/calm, ashamed/proud all at once. Qualities that seemed opposing were both true and present. I wanted to touch upon this presence of dualities in humans, saying that we are all beautifully complex, and we should be able to proudly claim our intersectional sides." - Kirsten Spruch - Baeble Music

Los Angeles-based Madison Malone‘s music is described as ‘the beauty created beneath the destruction’, an otherworldly description that will only make sense after having listened to her tracks yourself. Malone has just dropped her latest single, the ethereal and fluid pop track ‘Flowers on Leather’.

‘Flowers on Leather’ was recorded and produced far from the City of Angels, like the rest of her album, in a ski chalet outside of Montreal after Malone chose to escape the hustle and bustle of the city for a while. Joined by producer Hugo Montecristo, Malone rustled up some magic.
Malone’s vocals are incredibly powerful, she really has one of those voices that defines pop in 2018, however when she she spits out ‘Flowers on Leather’ multiple times thoroughout the track, it goes from feeling a bit Spice Girls-y to iconically early noughties pop. Both of which are great things in my book.
Understandably she’s drawn comparison to Lorde, her layers of backing vocals (aptly described as a ‘rebellious angel choir’) harken back to some of Lorde’s earliest work, namely The Love Club EP. Fans of Billie Eilish and Sigrid will likely find themselves enjoying this track too.
In contrast to the lyrics focusing on the complexity of humans and their relationships, Malone’s visual for ‘Flowers on Leather’ is a minimalist lyric video created by Denna Madain – you can watch this below. Malone’s concept for the song stemmed from her finding parts of herself conflicting, as she told Baeble Music, she felt she could be introverted/extroverted, masculine/feminine, the darkness/the lightness, anxious/calm, ashamed/proud all at once.’ Inspired by the baffling concept of human nature, she created a track focusing on the duality of human nature, ‘Flowers on Leather’ so to put it. - David Thomas - The Music Site

As students at the University of Wisconsin can attest, one year of college can drive someone crazy, let alone four.

The thought of leaving all that hard work, though, and simply quitting seems unthinkable, or crazy to most.

For singer/songwriter Madison Malone, however, the idea didn’t seem so crazy at all. To chase her dreams, it was the most sensible thing she could have done.

After spending most of her life surrounded by music, it’s no strange thing that Malone became a musician herself. The music her parents listened to inspired her growing up, and she started playing piano at a very young age. In high school, she delved into choirs, musicals and songwriting. Even further, she taught herself guitar and started playing shows.

None of that stopped when she came to college. Though she chose unrelated majors, Spanish and social work, she found other ways to be involved with music.

Malone originally found her place in Redefined, one of the a cappella groups on campus, which altered her friend group and support system on campus, Malone said.

As well as being a student involved in a full-time singing group, Malone continued to write music. Within the difficulties of balancing school and music, she found inspiration from the energy of the people around her, Malone said.

But trying to balance school and music started to take its toll. Going to morning class, doing homework during the day and then staying up until the early hours of the next morning to write songs wasn’t healthy academically or musically, Malone said.

When faced with the decision of where to focus her energies, Malone said, “school I can put off at this point, music is something that when it comes to a doorstep you just have to run with it.”

So she dropped out of UW to become a full-time musician.

This decision became the underlying theme of her first album Liminal, named after the particular feeling of being on the threshold of life.

“Once it was completed, I just felt this strong desire to make a decision, stop living in between things and stop being so pseudo-musician, pseudo-student,” Malone said.

Just like she knew which direction she wanted to take, she knew which direction her music should take. Malone’s music aims to connect people and help them relate to each other. She does this through what she calls “soul-pop with ambient and alternative influences.”

“Soul, for a couple of different reasons: music from the heart and soul, stuff I’m trying to connect people’s souls and people in general,” she said. “I’ll give enough details to give people imagination or for them to grab onto it.”

Malone’s creative process leads her to compile her music in a unique structure. It starts with the composition of a chorus. The lyrical content of that chorus always relates to her on a personal level. Then, she structures the verses so that they relate to a bigger picture, in turn making them more relatable to an audience.

This strategy has led to her many successes. Malone has toured for three years, in places like Nashville, New York and Los Angeles. In June of 2016, she released her second album, Bloom. Most recently, she moved to Los Angeles, allowing her to pursue bigger business opportunities.

Her success doesn’t end there. Malone has become her own boss — she’s the owner of a publishing company called E.M.H. Publishing House. This is quite beneficial to her career — it means that she can publish her own music rather than it going to a different company.

Malone made the wild decision to leave her academic career, and it paid off. The success she already has is nothing in comparison to what she has waiting in her future. - The Badger Herald