Madilyn Mei welcomes us into a vibrant world of whimsy, queerness, and emotional release with ‘A Thousand Songs About It All: Act 1,’ a deeply personal indie folk album where metaphors, musicals, and mental health intertwine.
Stream: ‘A Thousand Songs About It All: Act 1’ – Madilyn Mei
There’s a reason fans attend Madilyn Mei’s concerts adorned in clown makeup, cowboy hats, or handmade puppet outfits. His realm is immersive, chaotic, and wonderfully peculiar – a space where metaphors resonate deeply and circus themes feel utterly genuine.
A Thousand Songs About It All: Act 1 – Madilyn Mei
In his newly released second album, A Thousand Songs About It All: Act 1 (available now via Mercury Records), the genderqueer indie folk artist delves into themes of anxiety, identity, and grief within a collection of glittering, heartfelt tracks that range from Kate Bush-inspired lullabies to ragtime space operas. Theatrical, introspective, and endearingly eccentric, it’s an album that encourages you to laugh-cry in a velvet tent while someone onstage echoes your spirals.
Atwood Magazine recently chatted with Madilyn Mei just after his theatrical One Man Circus tour – having opened for AJR and navigated a year of personal and professional highs and lows – to discuss gender, genre, honesty, mental health, and the song that required a horse whinny. This is an interview you'll want to highlight.
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:: stream/purchase A Thousand Songs About It All: Act 1 here ::
:: connect with Madilyn Mei here ::
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“What’s Going On?!” – Madilyn Mei
Madilyn Mei ‘A Thousand Songs About It All: Act 1’ © Emily Minerowicz
A CONVERSATION WITH MADILYN MEI
Atwood Magazine: A Thousand Songs About It All: Act 1 feels like both a confession and a cosmic circus. What were the initial inspirations behind this project – and did you envision it as a two-part experience from the start?
Madilyn Mei: I began writing A Thousand Songs a few years back; the earliest tracks are “Comfort Food,” penned in late 2021, and “Quarters,” which I wrote in the summer of 2023. Most songs were crafted after the album concept was established in late 2023. From the very start of shaping the album, the track list changed numerous times as the songs evolved, with some being replaced by others entirely. Ultimately, I chose this tracklist mainly because I needed to release the album at some point, or else it could have continued to develop indefinitely. My mom suggested I create a part one and part two since I kept composing more songs. This also inspired the album's title. A significant theme throughout the album is my inability to stop writing about my issues, to the point that I could compose a thousand songs about everything.
You mentioned the album captures the juxtaposition of career highs and personal lows. How did this emotional contrast influence your songwriting?
Madilyn Mei: I particularly enjoyed expressing this dissonance in “One Man Circus,” where parts of the song are lively, upbeat, and theatrical while the lyrics convey confidence. I transition from refusing assistance and building myself up to revealing a quieter, more vulnerable moment both musically and lyrically. In those softer moments, I unveil the truth about my feelings as the person behind the persona presented on stage, highlighting how denying help is ultimately harmful to me. “My Only Sense of Purpose” mirrors this as I express feeling “lonelier than ever,” only to immediately state, “but I guess that’s for the better.” I constantly grapple with myself, seeking to convince myself that struggling is acceptable because my career is thriving, and I should treat my issues as prompts for writing.
Madilyn Mei © Emily Kat
From whimsical vaudevillian tones to poignant existential moments, your sound is impossible to categorize. How do you approach genre creation – is it a creative playground or a source of pressure?
Madilyn Mei: It’s definitely a playground. My producer Scrawny and I had a blast crafting the album’s soundscape. Being a self-taught musician who only plays the ukulele, I often lack the technical vocabulary to communicate with my producer; however, we both prefer that I illustrate the vibe I aim for. I always say Scrawny is the real one-man circus; he’s a multi-instrumentalist who can juggle! For my single “A Can Of Worms,” I told Scrawny I wanted it to feel like ‘Army Dreamers’ by Kate Bush meets a music box meets a merry-go-round at a carnival. In “At Least I’d be a Cowboy,” my request was for the most cowboy-themed song possible, leading Scrawny to record a twangy guitar, hoof clopping percussion, and even a horse whinny at
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Madilyn Mei welcomes us into their vibrant realm of whimsy, queerness, and emotional release with ‘A Thousand Songs About It All: Act 1,’ a personal indie folk creation where metaphors, musicals, and mental health intersect.