Madison Cunningham – Ace
Madison Cunningham explores a new moody sonic palette on her expressive third album, Ace
Best known for the intricate guitar-work which guided the warm, woody folk-rock of her 2022 Grammy-winning album Revealer, Madison Cunningham opens her latest project Ace instead with swathes of rippling piano. The instrument is the main protagonist across the record, pairing sweetly with the Californian musician’s crystal-clear vocals on tracks like lead single My Full Name, which recalls the intimate art-pop of Regina Spektor.
Elsewhere the album is more fluid and impressionistic, piano swirling restlessly amongst moody clarinet and strings. Songs shift like the weather, disintegrating into choppy rhythms and murky chords before cohering into choruses again, echoing Cunningham’s lyrical reflections on rebuilding yourself after heartbreak.
Shore begins delicately; Cunningham’s vocals leap nimbly between octaves, Joni Mitchell-esque, but soon unfurl into a rush of flighty woodwinds and showering cymbals. Skeletree has same the gritty, guitar-led momentum of Revealer, while Wake is a glittering pastoral folk song that sees Cunningham duet with Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold.
From the symphonic Beyond That Moon to the bustling, animalistic Goodwill, Ace manages not to overwhelm its simply lovely melodies under sweeping layers of orchestration. With moments of sheer, sunlit beauty unfolding unexpectedly among the churning winds, Madison Cunningham shows us it’s well worth weathering the storm.
Listen to: Shore, Skeletree, My Full Name