Los Angeles songwriter and guitarist Madison Cunningham has re-emerged with her second studio album, "Ace", a 14-track album that explores openness, growth, and sonic grace. Renowned for her complex guitar work and crystalline vocal presence, Cunningham creates an album that feels both intimate and vast at once, as if she's ushering listeners into the most immersive chapter of her career.
Over 52 minutes and 16 seconds, Ace glows with the richness of firsthand knowledge and the snap of self-realization. You get the feeling, from the wire-exchanging jangle of notes at the start, that Cunningham is stepping into her own light, assured, honest, and unafraid to experiment. That artistry has long won her admirers among collaborators, Lucy Dacus, Remi Wolf, Mumford & Sons, Lucius, and Andrew Bird. However, she sounds more easygoing than ever, and it's as if those experiences have been poured into something unmistakably her own.
The ripping single "Break The Jaw" serves as the anchor at the heart of this record, with it in on such a guttural immediacy. It's surprising and brutal, a track that maintains lyrical specificity while pulsing with raw emotion. Cunningham's charming voice quivers with power, and her guitar lines are an extension of her internal dialogue.
Two other tracks in "Ace" that also stood out are "Shatter Into Form" and "Goodwill." "Shatter Into Form" is the sound of rebirth, a song that positively glows with self-discovery, stacked harmonies, and rhythmic complexity. Meanwhile, "Goodwill" channels a more urgent grace, its melody spilling into the track like sunlight creeping through curtains. Together, they highlight Cunningham's gift for marrying poetic introspection to pure musical craftsmanship. "Ace" is an album born of reflection, realized in the clarity and unflinching reverie of the heart. Madison Cunningham transcends genre in her songwriting, blending indie-folk textures with art-pop nuance and a timeless soul spirit. Each note seems to count, each lyric disarmingly human.
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