Madi Diaz is an artist who cuts to the emotional core of her own experiences with startling precision. Her last two albums, 2021s History of a Feeling and 2024s two-time Grammy-nominated Weird Faith, set off a breakthrough for the professional songwriter. These records won over critics, audiences, and other collaborators with well-crafted songs and a compelling arc: first theres the difficult breakup, then a mourning period and slowly, a sense of reinvention; when love comes around again, Weird Faith seemed to say, its worth fighting through the fear and uncertainty. Fatal Optimist, the Nashville singer-songwriters forthcoming LP, could be considered the final chapter in this heartache trilogy, and also its rawest entry. This time Diaz is asking audiences to lean closer in to hear what she has to say. After ending a relationship with someone she once envisioned marrying, Diaz turned away from everyone and everything she knew and took herself to an island. This heartbreak felt different. Every one of them does. Admittedly, she was embarrassed to be in this position again. How was she going to write about this? I put myself on an island, Diaz wrote in her journal during that time. I was already describing myself as an emotional island swimming in so much of an ocean of feelings... It was the perfect physical manifestation, alone with all of my disappointment. She began to navigate isolation, and the good things that can come from it. Although people often warn others about isolating, Madis time alone emerged as a powerful, insightful period of introspection. Rage, embarrassment and romantic grief shifted into inner wholeness and the pieces of Fatal Optimist started falling into place. I didnt know that I hadnt chosen myself yet, she says. The only person Im never gonna leave is myself. Solitude called to Diaz again during the initial recording sessions for Fatal Optimist. After entering a New Jersey studio with friends to flesh out the songs, she later realized it wasnt right. The album needed to sound like isolation, to mirror her experience of being completely alone. She wanted to capture the sound of self-soothing. Diaz started over in Southern California with a new co-producer, Gabe Wax (Soccer Mommy, Zach Bryan) at his Infinite Family Studio. This was the first time in my career that I stayed in this heavy place with the songs after leaving the studio, she says, rather than trying to escape it. While youll find subtle accompaniment from an occasional baritone guitar or bass, Fatal Optimist comes down to Diaz alone in a room with her acoustic guitar. This is her Unplugged moment, her stripped-down version, the Madi Diaz album most likely to haunt you with its starkness. Simplicity can be much more difficult to nail than camouflaging a song with layers of production. It is exactly what these songs needed.
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