Photo: Allister Ann
Madi Diaz is overcome with emotion. And she certainly lets her heart rule her hands and her voice. Diaz’s kind of heartfelt music either works for you or it doesn’t; that is to say that someone baring her soul with soft determination either resonates with you and your own life experiences, or you shudder at the prospect of having to deal with an emoting woman with an acoustic guitar headed in your direction.
If you fit in the former group, Diaz’s intriguing lyrical visions, and relationship issues sung in highly individual melodies, are yours to enjoy. She employs a classic singer-songwriter approach to her work that could be as at home in 1975 as it is in 2025. She’s released a few advance tracks from Fatal Optimism, her seventh album, which arrives October 10, including “Heavy Metal,” a vulnerable but tough self-depiction that discusses the strength of her heart—an ironic use, but considering her genre, not a surprising one.
It sounds as if Diaz’s next album will continue down the path she established with 2021’s History of a Feeling and last year’s Grammy-nominated Weird Faith. Love goes wrong. A breakup occurs. A feeling of “how could you do this to me?” permeates everything. Then a slow return and the act of putting one’s self back together, followed by unexpectedly falling in love again. That’s how it goes for Diaz and most everyone else on Earth, but she’s committed to putting herself out there. Her music operates as a genuine reflection of her personal life and her reaction to it. So Fatal Optimism is likely to supply more relationship angst—at least if the tracks “Ambivalence” and “Feel Something” are anything to go by.
This is not to say the whole collection is devoid of excitement in its downtempo introspection—who knows what she’s got up her sleeves. But, if it turns out that there’s a single moment offset by blast beats or distorted guitar solos, I’ll eat my hat.
