Weird Faith

Madi Diaz is no stranger to exploring the personal in her songwriting, and the act of processing emotions has always taken a lead role on her albums. Recorded with Andrew Sarlo, her fifth full-length, 2021s History of a Feeling, offered her rawest material yet, leading to television debuts and high-profile tours with artists including Harry Styles and Angel Olsen. On the follow-up, Weird Faith, Diaz not only continues to stare down complex feelings but shines a blue light on the dark underbelly of love, where the flaws, compromises, and insecurities lie. Recorded this time with Sam Cohen (Kevin Morby, Emily King) and Konrad Snyder (Noah Kahan, Stephen Sanchez), the album opens with the blunt and melancholy "Same Risk," in which she questions whether a new partner will carry their weight with lines like "Do you think this could ruin your life?/Cause I could see it ruining mine." That song also features a big, cellphone-flashlight-waving singalong chorus, something Diaz delivers many times over on Weird Faith. Among the many earnest earworms here (the cringier "KFM" notwithstanding) are songs like "God Person" ("Im not a god person/But Im never not searchin") and "Dont Do Me Good," an early single featuring her friend Kacey Musgraves. Mournful but defiant, the latter song makes catchy country-rock of tough sentiments like "Every time I wake up crying/Im denying what I should/I know loving you/It dont do me good." Consisting mostly of similarly midtempo ballads and relationship obits, quasi-outliers include the spare, tender title track, in which she decides to try to stay ("Im gonna have a heart of gold/And Im gonna have weird faith"), and a pair of relative rockers in "Everything Almost" and the cathartic closer, "Obsessive Thoughts," which would have made a fitting album title. ~ Marcy Donelson

米・ナッシュビルを拠点に活動するSSW、Madi Diazの6枚目のスタジオアルバム。WaxahatcheeのサポートアクトやHarry Stylesのツアーの前座を務めるなど注目を浴びる彼女の最新作は、フォークやカントリー～ポップスを成熟したソングライティングで堪能できる作品となっています。アコースティックギターのぬくもりを感じる《Get To Know Me》、Kacey Musgravesとの共演曲《Don't Do Me Good》は聞き逃せません。10年以上のキャリアを持つ彼女が作る本作は、瑞々しく優しさを内包する1枚です。
intoxicate (C)石田真生

20年ほどのキャリアがあるナッシュヴィル拠点のシンガー・ソングライターで、『History Of A Feeling』(2021年)によって広く知られるようになったマディ・ディアズ。ハリー・スタイルズの北米ツアーに参加し、ケイシー・マスグレイヴスとのデュエット"Don't Do Me Good"も話題になるなど、それ以降の動きはさらなるトピック性を備えていたわけだが、アンタイから届いたこのニュー・アルバムは彼女への評価を一段上に引き上げるものとなるだろう。サム・コーエンとコンラッド・ライダーが共同制作に参加。アコースティック・ギターをメインにした簡素なラヴソングの連なりは名盤の風格をすでに備えている。
bounce (C)轟ひろみ