Monday, September 11, 2017

Sept 12 - Madeline Kenney

So I started saying the other day that I'd given more thought to what was upsetting me, and I think I can articulate it better. Basically, when my friend Julia left I felt like my last friend in Shanghai left. I still have plenty of people here, but Julia was the latest in a short list of people I really feel I can depend on and consider real friends. There's been like 4 in the 3 years I've been here. So these are people that make me feel included, make it clear that I'm also important, make me feel like they make time for me, etc. It's like most people are around and happy to hang out, but are not very proactive about it, or not very interested or something. But Julia was. So it was very sad for her to go, since I felt like I have nobody left here to depend on.

Now that I wrote it out, it feels like it didn't make much more sense than last time. But in my head it does. So I guess you'll just have to make do. Or just ignore that part and go straight to the music, which is really what this should be done with this blog.

So moving on to the music, today it's Madeline Kenney. And only Madeline Kenney. I think it's been a while since I gave a blog to a single artist. So she's this woman from Oakland who was like a baker and did all kinds of odd jobs and then started making music, and it turned out her music was really good, so she got signed and has an album now. But I think she also still works as a baker in a bakery? I don't know. All I know is I'm glad she's making music now.

She put out an EP last year called Signals, and just a week or so ago put out her debut album, Night Night At The First Landing. It's a great album. At first, I wasn't going to buy it, but then I realized that actually there's a ton of good songs on it and I should buy it. So I did. And I'm glad I did, cause I've been listening to it a lot. It starts out just so-so, but then Always comes on, and from there it's fantastic. Slow start, climax, and then slowly brings you back down. Great structure. So we're starting today with Always.





And after Always comes Big One, which is probably her best song. Also, the lyrics are super sexy. I don't think they're actually supposed to be, but with an opening line like "my other car is your face," all I can think of is her riding someone's face. Maybe it's me, not her. But either way, it's a great song. Really great song.





So yeah, after that, the album slows down a bit, but stays really strong. Great structure. And as it turns out, after buying the album, I realized that it didn't actually get really good from Always onward, it starts getting really good at John In Irish. Anyway, just listen to it all. You'll probably listen to it a lot, like me.

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