Sign up for our mailing list Real artists creating records on their own terms
Close

Sign up for our mailing list

News

Madi Diaz Announces New Album, History Of A Feeling, Out August 27th via ANTI-
Wednesday, June 9th, 2021

Madi Diaz Announces New Album, History Of A Feeling, Out August 27th via ANTI-

“An artist new to me that I hope you love.” - Bob Boilen, NPR Music

“Pure power pop awesomeness.” - The Needle Drop on “Nervous”

"This confessional indie rock ballad is the kind where you bop your head to the catchy melodies and chords and then read the lyrics and flinch a bit. It’s great.” - Stereogum on “Nervous”

Nashville-based songwriter Madi Diaz announces her new album, History Of A Feeling, out August 27th on ANTI, and today presents a new single/video, “Woman In My Heart.” History Of A Feeling undeniably marks Diaz’s status as a first-rate songwriter, a craft she’s spent years refining. Across the album, Diaz cycles through the full spectrum of emotions as she comes to terms with the dissolution of a meaningful relationship. She plays the line between the personal and the general with dexterity: in Diaz’s hands, quiet moments of self-pity are transformed into grand meditations on heartbreak, and unwieldy knots of big existential feelings are smoothed out with a sense of clear-eyed precision.

Diaz started working on History Of A Feeling three years ago, before beginning collaborations with co-producer Andrew Sarlo (Big Thief, Bon Iver) with whom she worked closely to flesh out the album’s instrumentation. It’s a homecoming record of sorts that points to her Nashville songwriting roots. Pulling from a range of folk, country and pop leanings, as much influenced by Patty Griffin and Lori McKenna as PJ Harvey and Kathleen Hanna, History Of A Feeling is comprised of the most direct and introspective songs Diaz has ever written. Throughout, she seamlessly weaves a profound sense of intimacy and camaraderie as her lyrics are relatable to anyone who has experienced heartbreak and great change in some manner. These universals are shaded by the fact that the relationship breakdown Diaz is chronicling coincided with her former partner transitioning, a complex reckoning Diaz approaches with empathy, candor, and care. “The bulk of this music came from dealing with a kind of tsunami clash of compassion, both for my former partner while she was discovering a deeper part of her gender identity long hidden, and my own raw heartache over having lost the partner I knew,” Diaz says. “I felt so torn through the middle because half of me wanted to hold this person through such a major life event, one that is so beautiful and hard, and the other half felt lost—like I had lost myself in someone else’s story.” It was a sea change that reverberated and ricocheted in her reflections on their relationship and her own sense of self moving forward and her process of healing.

Following the previously released singles “Nervous,” “New Person, Old Place,” and “Man In Me,” which all appear on History Of A Feeling, “Woman In My Heart” came out in one long stream-of-consciousness sweep. Throughout the track, Diaz’s resounding voice pierces through building guitar and percussion. “This song came out in a sort of waking dream while I was actively learning how to part with someone,” says Diaz. “It was hard enough not to miss/hurt/hate/fight/fuck/feel/get over them, and, what was even harder, was the love we had felt more and more like a mystery and the pain was the only thing coming in clear.” The accompanying video, directed by Diaz and Jordan Bellamy and filmed in Colorado, visualizes Diaz’s feelings of unfamiliarity. It was made with no treatment and no plan, just impulse and excitement, letting the music be the guide. Diaz elaborates: “Stumbling in the dark in old abandoned gold mines, whispering to horses at 9500 feet and digging relentlessly, all of these physical motions called out to us as a signal in a desperate attempt to unearth the truth.”

Watch Madi Diaz’s Video for “Woman In My Heart”

History Of A Feeling Tracklist

1. Rage

2. Man In Me

3. Crying In Public

4. Resentment

5. Think Of Me

6. Woman In My Heart

7. Nervous

8. Forever

9. History Of A Feeling

10. New Person Old Place

11. Do It Now

Browse by Artist

2077All Artists 99Tom Waits 73Mavis Staples 59Neko Case 51Lost In The Trees 50Sean Rowe 48Dr. Dog 45The Milk Carton Kids
41Jolie Holland 40Bettye LaVette 37Man Man 36Son Little 35Tinariwen 33DeVotchKa 33Tim Fite 31Islands 31Grinderman 29Glen Hansard 28Saintseneca 27Galactic 27Wilco 26Andy Shauf 24Xenia Rubinos 24Michael Franti and Spe... 24The Drums 24Delicate Steve 22Doe Paoro 22William Elliott Whitmo... 22Bob Mould 21The Frames 21Nick Cave & The Bad Se... 20Christopher Paul Stell... 20Joe Henry 19Sage Francis 19Cass McCombs 19Yves Jarvis 19Booker T. Jones 18Deafheaven 18Calexico 18Gary V 17Yann Tiersen 17John K. Samson 16The Antlers 16Jason Lytle 16Ramblin Jack Elliott 16Danny Elfman 14Daniel Lanois 14Jeremy Ivey 13Billy Bragg 13The Dream Syndicate 13Madi Diaz 12Peter Silberman 12Leyla McCalla 12Xavier Rudd 12Combo Chimbita 12Girlpool 11Roky Erickson 11Mose Allison 11Purr 11Lyrics Born 11The Weakerthans 11Ryan Pollie 11Rain Machine 11Glitterer 11Jade Jackson 10Half Waif 10The Swell Season 10High Pulp 10The Melodic 10So Much Light 10Alfa Mist 10Darrin Bradbury 9Hey, King! 9M. Ward 9N.A.S.A. 9Cameron Avery 9Lido Pimienta 9Marianne Faithfull 9Curtis Harding 9Josiah Johnson 9Wynonna 9Moor Mother 8Katy Kirby 8Greg Graffin 8Christian Lee Hutson 8Slow Pulp 8The Coup 8Solillaquists of Sound 8Cadence Weapon 7Richard Reed Parry 7Dead Man's Bones 7Alec Ounsworth 7Title Fight 7Ben Harper and Charlie... 7Beth Orton 7Elliott Smith 7Ben Harper 7Kelly Hogan 7Kate Davis 7Japandroids 7Eddie Izzard 6Broken Twin 6Busdriver 6A Girl Called Eddy 6Rafiq Bhatia 6Os Mutantes 6Deradoorian 6Kate Bush 5James Brandon Lewis 5Art Moore 5Kristine Leschper 5Keaton Henson 5The Field 5Jasmyn 5Foxwarren 5Ezra Furman 5Beat Connection 5The Tallest Man On Ear... 5One Day As A Lion 5Scott McMicken and THE... 5Bonny Doon 4Sparklehorse 4The Good Ones 4Pops Staples 4sunking 4Marketa Irglova 4Ersi Arvizu 4Jackson+Sellers 3MJ Lenderman 3Danny Cohen 3Walter Wolfman Washing... 3Plains 3Mavis Staples & Levon... 3Mothers 3Sierra Leones Refugee... 3Marc Ribot 3Waxahatchee 3Petra Haden 2Jeff Tweedy 2Sam Akpro 2Fleet Foxes 2Various Artists: RANGO 1Lightman Jarvis Ecstat... 1Youth Group 1Merle Haggard 1Taylor Vick 1case/lang/veirs 1Joe Strummer And The M... 1The Locust 1Tricky 1Antibalas 1Simian Mobile Disco 1Various Artists: ROGUE... 1Rogue's Gallery 1ANTI- Records 1Solomon Burke 1Kronos Quartet with Br... 1Porter Wagoner 1Blackalicious
See Full List+