By: Bridget Sinden
Photo: Sean Stout
Madison Cunningham’s highly anticipated third studio album “Ace” releases October 10th, Its an album that she describes as being “as light to make as its subject matter was heavy.” Her songwriting has always been rich in elements of classical folk storytelling however Madison notes that this project is the first time she’s felt full creative ownership from start to finish.
The first released single off the album My Full Name, is a change of pace from her previous projects setting the tone for her listeners as a more forward narrative. It’s a song that feels both comforting and intimately crushing, something Madison has mastered throughout her work, but with this album it feels different as she chooses to highlight new aspects of her artistry with this track. When we asked Madison about why she chose to have My full name as the leading single and what that meant to her in her feeling of creative ownership over this project she had this to say:
“I think aesthetically it’s very different from anything I’ve ever done, I loved coming out of the gate with a piano song, I’ve associated myself with guitar, but I felt it established more of my melodic imprint less my sonic imprint and I really felt like there was some ownership in that, and also just in the subject matter of the song its very forward and its very hard on a platter narrative. I think there’s ownership in that even if there is rejection, I’ve enjoyed that feeling of sharing that song first because it feels like in the way that it was written for someone and it was sort of a declaration, I feel like it’s kind of that way for my listeners as well and I really liked extending that first”
The second track released ahead of the album, “Wake” is a harmonically ethereal duet between Madison and Robin Pecknold of the indie folk band Fleet Fox’s. In the album announcement Madison noted that her feeling of creative ownership came out of collaboration, specifically the opportunity to collaborate with her friends and favourite musicians, those who inspire her most. Through her past work she’s featured and collaborated with an impressive bill of artists such as Mumford and Sons, Jon Foreman and Molly Tuttle. In this short interview we did we asked Madison How this collaboration with Fleet Fox’s came to be and what it meant for her to have them on the track:
“I had met Robin maybe four years ago at one of my shows and I just felt like there was a kindred spirit between us, and when I was writing wake I heard it as a duo and I felt like robins voice was the perfect blend I had never actually heard his voice harmonized with anyone else and I really wanted to see what that sounded like, paired with mine i feel like we both have a similar resonance and that’s kind of how that came to be, I feel really lucky about how it turned out.”
Madison Cunningham is a voice whose songwriting transcends with each of her projects, and with this upcoming release of Ace we are about to see a whole new side of her.
Stay wild, stay creative, stay storytelling
