Madi Diaz and Kacey Musgraves Duet On New Single, “Don’t Do Me Good,” Off New Album, Weird Faith
Madi Diaz “is one of our most important songwriters, and her command of melody and language stands alone” (Paste). Today, Madi Diaz presents her second pre-release single, “Don’t Do Me Good,” off Weird Faith, out February 9th via ANTI-, and announces a 2024 North American headline tour. Following lead single, “Same Risk,” “Don’t Do Me Good” showcases Diaz’s collaborative spirit as she mourns the inevitable end of a relationship alongside musician and friend, Kacey Musgraves. “Every time I try to walk away I stay, you knew I would,” they sing, followed by the reverberating conclusion, “I know loving you, it don’t do me good.” A woman’s admission that peace eludes her is desperately lonely, but Diaz is bolstered by Musgraves’ accompaniment in this crushing ballad. “I wanted this song to feel like calling your friend,” explains Diaz. “That moment of needing to commiserate and to have that person say ‘yeah, I've been there’ and share that experience with you.”
Speaking more to the collaboration with Musgraves, Diaz commented, “I am so happy Kacey said ‘yes’ when I asked her to sing on ‘Don’t Do Me Good.’ This song would have been so awfully lonely without her and I am so grateful I get to hear her voice on this with mine.”
“This song is about that person that we keep coming back to,” Diaz explains, “no matter how many times they let us down. It's about waking up every day and making the choice to love a person unconditionally while it’s simultaneously getting harder and harder to ignore that nothing is getting better in the relationship. It’s stubborn, it’s defiant, it's hopeful, and it's aggressively optimistic. It’s about being a bit of a masochist and being so in love with the hard work of loving a person that you don’t know how to walk away from them.”
Diaz (vocals, guitar, bass, piano, organ) and Musgraves (vocals) are joined by the album’s co-producers Sam Cohen (bass) and Konrad Snyder (percussion), as well as The Walkmen’s Matt Barrick (drums, percussion). The song’s accompanying music video was directed by Elizabeth Olmstead.
On her last album, History of a Feeling, Diaz confronted the dissolution of a long relationship and a nuanced breakup. On Weird Faith Diaz once again examines a romantic partnership, but this time, her songs are about falling for someone and the endless self-questioning a new relationship inspires. “After being really burned by love – maybe relentlessly burned by it – the album is about being brave and trying again. Doing it differently,” she says. “It’s in our nature to try to be brave like that. You see the car crash coming. Maybe it won’t happen, but you're bracing for it anyway.” In the throes of new love, she repeatedly encountered the same questions: “Am I ready for this? Can I do this? Can I trust myself to know the good from the bad?”