One artist that I have really gotten into recently is Madison Beer. She is relatively well-known, but also unknown when you compare her to chart-topping artists.
Madison Beer is fairly new to the mainstream music scene, but she actually has been making music since 2013. She has been nominated for two Grammys and currently has over 14 million Spotify listeners. However, no one seems to have heard of her when I ask them, which saddens me because her music is absolutely amazing. Her newest album released in 2023, “Silence Between Songs,” is an example of a really raw and emotional set of songs. Each song leaves you feeling something, whether it’s happy, sad or full of thought.
The song, “Spinnin” talks about a feeling many people have probably had before. The song repeatedly asks, “Has the world stopped spinning today?” The world (her world) has basically stopped and she wants to know why. Not only do the lyrics reinforce this idea about chaos and confusion but even the structure of the song itself presents this theme. There is repetition throughout with almost every lyric, but also the musical beats add a sense of confusion with their varied use of loud to soft sounds. You feel like you are lost while listening to it and that the world is spinning.
One of my favorite moments in “Spinnin” is when she sings the line, “My heartbeat’s racing like a strange ballet.” During this line the music actually mimics the feeling of this by being very rhythmic like a heartbeat and when she sings “ballet” the music actually rises like a ballerina rising on her toes. It’s just absolutely beautiful and really helps demonstrate the feelings she is having.
Another favorite is “17.” In this song, Madison Beer discusses how fast her life has moved and how she has missed out on many things because of that. One of my favorite lines is “All my life I’ve never had the chance to stop and smell the flowers.” This line is filled with sorrowful regret and I personally find the statement to be really sad. This song feels very reflective and tells the listener not to let life pass you by. I always love a song with an important message.
The song “Reckless” is probably my favorite on the album. This song uses a unique mix of music. The song actually starts out with a melody from what sounds like a music box. After the music box stops, a piano is brought in to keep things moving at a slow pace as we start to hear Madison Beer’s shaky voice. This already gives the listener an idea about the emotions of this song. It’s sad and sorrowful, and almost feels like she is struggling to get the words out. As she says in the opening line of the song, “Hey, this is a story I hate.” Madison Beer doesn’t want to actually have to write a song about this but she also says at the end of the song, “But I told it to cope with the pain.” A parallel with this line is the music box playing in the background again. A person often will listen to a music box when they are sad, especially when they are a child. So, Beer is making a connection between the lyrics and the music again.
Some other standout songs that I love include “Ryder,” “At Your Worst” and “Showed Me (How I Fell In Love With You).” All of these songs just have a wondrous mix of emotional tones and upbeat attitudes.
“Silence Between Songs” is one of those albums that I never knew I needed to listen to, but now I can’t stop listening to it. From start to finish, this album just hits for me. It’s not one that I jam to, but rather one that I listen to when I need to cry things out or feel better.
I think Madison Beer deserves more attention than she currently gets as her lyricism and musical tones are something special.