Ya know, sometimes a record is so good you don’t really have anything to say about it. But out of respect for Oakland’s beloved Madeline Kenney, I’m gonna try: Her new album, A New Reality Mind, is an absolutely stop-you-in-your-tracks, bowl-you-over masterwork.
The first thing that stuns is how she’s able to keep topping herself. After a decade-long career in the Bay Area, you’d think she’d be tapped out. But A New Reality Mind showcases an incredible next step for the artist. The product of a breakup, the album sets its somber tone quickly, opening with mournful synth sounds and remaining emotionally stirring, but in a way that never feels tiring or overwrought. Speaking of synths, they’re all over this album, but that shouldn’t put off people who came to Kenney through her work that blended them with more traditional rock instruments like guitars, bass, and drums. She applies a light touch, constructing entire songs out of electronic chirps and swarms of sound but avoiding any sense of campiness. Rather than a cheeky nod to the past, it all sounds new.
It is an enduring taboo amongst music writers to use the word “ethereal” (that and “turn it up to 11”) so I will say this album is otherworldly, transporting, floats on air and will make you feel as such. Not that you ever would, but don’t take your eyes off Madeline Kenney. Astoundingly, she still has so much more to give us.
