Portland, OR based Singer/Songwriter MADISENXOXO has signed has signed to Pack Records and is exclusively managed by Roadcase Management, a new company formed late last year by Heart’s Nancy Wilson along with her husband, music industry vet Geoff Bywater.
Nancy Wilson, who celebrates 50 years in the music business, and was just honored by the Recording Academy for a Lifetime Achievement Award, expresses why it’s so important to help cultivate new talent. “After so many years of being an artist in this business, I would love to use my experience to help elevate other talented and deserving musicians. I was introduced to Madisenxoxo’s music and fell in love. We had been talking for quite some time about forming a management company and this seemed like the perfect time to launch Road Case Management with Madisenxoxo as our first artist!”
Madisen combines disparate sounds and textures in adventurous and surprising ways on her sophomore effort, Mothership, to be released on April 28, 2023. Produced by her long-time collaborator/now-fiancé Josh Horine (otherwise known as Mana Garden), these five songs find the artist dipping into pop, rock, folk, and electronic music. “You’re So Pretty,” her new single out today, benefits from Madisen’s years of classical choral studies. She wields her instrument combining delicate layers upon layers of harmonies that sweep elegantly over a menagerie of instruments. The monotony of doom-scrolling has never sounded so beautiful, as she sings ‘I’ll be just fine, I’ve watched your video for the 100th time…’ her reserved diaphanous vocals gently float and climb ever higher abruptly running into a sonic buzzsaw, exploding unexpectedly. “You’re So Pretty,” arrives on the heels of the first single and video from Mothership which perfectly set the tone for the whole project - aptly titled, “Control Freak.”
Watch the video for “You’re So Pretty” here
“When we were making all these songs, we were exploring different genres and ideas,” Madisen says. “We weren't limited by any certain sounds. Somehow it ended up being cohesive together in a really cool way that I didn't expect. I think it was really good for me to branch out and lose focus—in a good way. It enabled us to find sounds that we wouldn't have been able to find otherwise.”
Madisen grew up listening to the ’70s soft rock artists her parents loved—including the Carpenters, Chicago and Bread—and started piano lessons at age four, after showing early interest in the instrument. While in high school, she studied classical piano and then choral music, which led to her performing with her college’s chamber choir. “That's where I really fell in love with harmonies and singing together with other people,” Madisen explains. “I've tried to incorporate that a lot in my music. I love the way people's voices meld together.”
More significantly, in college she also started writing her own original music. When the 2020 halt to everyone’s lives happened, Madisen and partner/producer, Josh Horine recorded her backlog of songs. She posted a behind-the-scenes look at the process of making one tune, the swerving, beat-heavy electro tune “Baby in Blue,” to TikTok. Unexpectedly, the video went mildly viral. When Hallberg posted the entire song on Spotify, it continued to rack up streams (currently over 5 million) —paving the way for where she is now.
