Try a New Musician: Madilyn Mei

Try a New Musician: Madilyn Mei

Last year in November, I wrote an article about trying a new music genre called electroswing with the hopes of bringing some spice to peoples’ daily listening routines. This year, I’m bringing that back by introducing you all to a new musician named Madilyn Mei!

Madilyn Mei is a singer-songwriter from Arizona. She primarily makes folk music with a focus on storytelling, reminiscing on childhood, life, death, and love. I was first introduced to her music when I heard her song “Partner in Crime” on YouTube and I fell in love with her style. I’d like to highlight a few of my favorite songs of hers that make a great jumping-off point for getting into her music.

First is her song “Tho I’m a Tortoise,” which looks at the story of “The Tortoise and the Hare” from the point of view of both animals, along with exploring themes of enjoying life, the inevitability of death, and pointless competition. This song is such an amazing experience to listen to, and it feels like you are living the story along with the tortoise and the hare. The main takeaway I got from the song is that we’re all going to die eventually, so why waste time not enjoying life? It’s okay to move at a slow pace or even be bad at things as long as you’re happy.

Next up is “Kleptomaniacrow,” which is about a crow who follows the singer around taking her shiny objects, eventually stealing her very soul. I love this song because it feels like it has a twist ending (which I won’t spoil), and listening to it for the first time had me shocked and longing to analyze every single lyric. It almost reminds me of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven.” There are lots of different interpretations of this song that I’ve seen. My initial interpretation was a metaphor for death and trickery, but some say it’s about being too quick to trust someone and being easily deceived as a result, and others discuss this song as a metaphor for an abusive relationship. 

Another amazing song from Madilyn Mei is “Garden Jargon.” This song is hauntingly artistic, telling the story of a flower that is being uploaded to a computer. This one is a little different from Mei’s other songs, having a more robotic feel and a strong vocal filter. She closes out the song with the flower’s pained screams as it reflects on how much it misses the sunlight. This song creates an interesting metaphor for growing up in the age of technology and wanting to escape it all, while also being delightfully horrifying to listen to. 

One of Mei’s most popular songs is “Milk Carton,” which follows the story of a lost cat trying to survive. The instrumental and the pace of the song align with the lyrics perfectly, making it feel like one big chase. The story told through the song is both exciting and terrifying as the listeners watch the cat struggle for his life, always trying to be faster than death. But the meaning also goes deeper, exploring themes of being disconnected from the outside world and wanting to help someone but not being able to due to your own suffering. 

While I love all of Madilyn Mei’s songs, my all-time favorite has to be “Call Me the Bard.” This song is clearly very personal to Madilyn Mei, talking about her journey with writing music and romanticizing her “silly life” in San Tan Valley, Arizona. It explores her journey with her music and how it grew over time. But she also sings about how that’s scary, relating her emotions to Orpheus and Eurydice and wondering what she'd lose if she were to look back. This song has quickly become my favorite of hers because, as a writer, I feel like I can relate to what she sings about. I love storytelling and often feel like I’m a bard for the characters I am writing, not to mention the fact that many of my ideas come from imagining myself in “some distant magic land,” as Mei phrases it. 

As much as I want to keep raving about Madilyn Mei’s songs, I’d much rather you get to discover some for yourself. I hope you enjoy the songs I’ve recommended and get to do some exploring of your own. Happy listening, everyone!