MADELINE. - Consume - SINGLE REVIEW

MADELINE.

Consume

Christchurch, New Zealand

Credit - Holly Lee Photography

Vocal wonder, MADELINE. has released her debut single, ‘Consume’ and it's a delight of deep-pop, lounge and neo-soul stylings melded with performant vox. The outcome is powerful. I for one am glad that contemporary pop is finally seeing some individuality. It feels like for 5 or 6 years there all songs were the same, governed by sentinel producers driving Bentleys in Malibu. Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish and now, MADELINE. are pushing the norm, defining their sound themselves and rising above the ocean of simplicity and redundancy. ‘Consume’ pulls from soul, trap and retro music. Its vocal style is comfortable and personal, but the instrumental blows the roof up and lets it crash down in splinters while the bass rattles your bones. MADELINE. is saying something with this single. What it says will be different for each person, but what it says to me is: wake up, MADELINE. is here, so we better be ready…

The song starts with a delicious tone, a string synth pad that warbles. It feels classic and futuristic all at once, an impossible sound. A sound clip plays and adds a sprinkling of vibe, setting the stage for the vocals as they roll in, soft and warm, pushing the register of the track with a dutiful oomph. The chorus is catchy and heavy with bass and texture and the song pulls away for a bridge to let you breathe before one final dive into the chasm of noise.

A belter of a single, this isn’t the last of MADELINE.. Not by a long shot. - FREDDIE MCKEE