Madeline - 'White Flag'

New music from Athens singer-songwriter Madeline Adams is always reason to celebrate at C&T, so the release of her forthcoming White Flag (due March 10 from Orange Twin) has me quite excited. Fortunately, listening through the record only affirms that enthusiasm. White Flag is Madeline's third full-length album, and again showcases her gorgeous voice and songwriting. As solid as The Slow Bang was, the maturity here indicates substantial growth since that 2006 release. On White Flag, Madeline embraces both the playful and sentimental sides of her repertoire, going beyond the usual pop music fodder to evoke rural themes, the tabula rasa, and supernatural imagery. It's quite a feat.

Although it has plenty of country flair, White Flag is at its core a fine pop record. The title track is a frisky show-stopper with a great melody, piano, and horns, and "Black Out" blows me away even though I can't figure out what it's actually about. The sweet live favorite "You Can't Break My Heart" shows up here, and I'm bound to swoon for any song that celebrates love, spectacles, and vinyl records. Intimate highlights "Sorry" and "Belly of the Beast" conjure up romantic and familial love, respectively, and "This Train" has the twang required of all songs about non-crazy locomotives. It's not entirely cerebral -- she also riffs on The Bee-Gees and R.E.M. ("Jive Talking") and sings about wanting to be in a drunken stupor ("Durty South [Tie One On])."

Notably, White Flag features a wide sampling of the Athens scene as guests including John Fernandes (Elf Power, Olivia Tremor Control), Page and Claire Campbell (Hope for Agoldensummer), and Matt Stoessel (South San Gabriel). This is a damn good record, and one I highly recommend.

The White Flag tracklist, and two sample tracks:

01. Sorry
02. Telephone Daydream
03. Lit Elephants
04. This Train
05. Shotgun Wedding
06. Jive Talking
07. White Flag
08. Rain, Fire, and Brimstone
09. Belly of the Beast
10. You Can't Break My Heart
11. Durty South (Tie One On)
12. Mountain Heart
13. Black Out

Madeline on tour (see Myspace for more info):

1/24 The Go Bar, Athens, GA
1/29 The Star Bar, Atlanta, GA (with Adron!)
3/07 Cave 9, Birmingham, AL
3/09 The Dragon's Den, New Orleans, LA
3/11 - 4/01 AMERICAN TOUR W/ HAM1 (dates TBA)
4/04 - 4/22 EUROPEAN TOUR (venues TBA)
5/01 - ?? AMERICAN TOUR W/ GINGER ENVELOPE (dates TBA)