Madison Beer – Silence Between Songs | 365 Days Of Inspiring Media

Epic Records

Release Date: September 15th 2023

Reviewed by: Joshua Andre

Madison Beer– Silence Between Songs (Amazon mp3/iTunes)

Track Listing:

Spinnin
Sweet Relief
Envy The Leaves
17
Ryder
Nothing Matters But You
I Wonder
At Your Worst
Showed Me (How I Fell In Love With You)
Home To Another One
Dangerous
Reckless
Silence Between Songs
King Of Everything

What would happen if an artist completely did a 180 musically and created an album so different, that it demanded attention, and it took the whole world by surprise? Madison Beer came onto the scene with her critically acclaimed and commercially successful album Life Support in 2021; and as it’s been about half a year or a tad longer since her sophomore album Silence Between Songs has released; a review is in order, don’t you think? The pop starlet has crafted a collection of 14 songs that are incredibly deep lyrically; and although musically, these songs are a bit more subdued than I would have thought they would be, there’s still no denying that Madison’s new songs need to be listened to and deserve at least one spin- as they’re incredibly honest, vulnerable and emotional, and inspire us to think about the deeper issues in our own lives as well.

Obviously, I would love to have more upbeat records because I know they sell and people like listening to them. At the time, this is what the album called for in my head and this is what I felt like was necessary. I know it is overall a bit more on the downbeat side, but I love it and I think it’s beautiful. There are those songs in there, whether it’s ‘17’, ‘Showed Me’, ‘Home to Another One’ or ‘Sweet Relief’ that have a bit more of a vibe and kick to them I guess and I can always make more upbeat songs and do whatever, but I try not to put too much pressure on it because when you’re releasing an album, you want it to do well and think you have to have pop records on it to balance out the ones that aren’t, but I don’t actually need to do any of that. I want to create projects that feel good to me.

The song [the title track] came first and it’s really about missing someone in between those silent moments and the album is about something different. They’re the same title but they have different meanings. To me, for the album title, it was the time I felt like I grew the most because I was actually still and able to hear my thoughts and not be constantly distracted or want to be distracted.

Everyone has a story that you don’t know and it’s not just about me or celebrities or people that you follow. This is every single person in the world. You don’t know what people have gone through. Your perspective on people can be the wrong take or a bad read and I wanted to write this in the hopes of people being like, “I didn’t know this about her and I’m glad I’m getting to know this now in an intimate way,” but also the bigger picture was having people realize they don’t know much about people’s lives.

Right off the bat, Madison holds no punches at all. “Spinnin” speaks about the mental anguish and anxiety Madison felt, and continues to feel from time to time, and highlights the notion that everyone is going through something even if it seems like people are acting as if they’re ok. Madison shines a spotlight in this song on mental health and feelings of loneliness and isolation; and though it’s a heavy topic, and probably too heavy for the start of an album, “Spinnin” beautifully encapsulates the tension and the dichotomy of being human, and encourages us all to have people in our corner whom we can rely on and trust fully. “Sweet Relief”, a groovy pop song driven by the bass, is a melody where the persona has a crush and is smitten by a guy, and feels ‘sweet relief’ when it is revealed that their crush returns their feelings, and they enter into the start of a burgeoning relationship; while the piano centred “Envy the Leaves” speaks about returning to our carefreeness and innocence and our youth- with Madison outlining that she feels envious and jealous of the leaves and the grass, who have no worries nor responsibilities nor heartache nor other issues in this life. Similar in theme to Matthew 6:25-34, Madison longs to return to the simpler life, and reminds us that we do not need to be so cynical all the time, nor super-reliant on technology and social media. “17” highlights all of the pressures of being a teen pop star, and Madison highlights the fact that her years between ages 17 and 21 were fraught with hardship and just generally things that no ‘normal’ teenager should ever had to deal with; while the emotional melody “Ryder” is probably the most honest and vulnerable on the album- with Madison dedicating the song to her brother Ryder- This is the song, my song, all of them are my songs, but this is my song. Whenever I get asked the question, “What is your favorite song on the album?” It’s not an easy question to answer, but when I am forced to give an answer, the answer is always “Ryder”. […] I’ve always wanted to write something, and I think this kind of goes back into what I said in my other video about like, writing my book, which was kind of like a journey, my mental health, my story, whatever. That really helped me to be able to feel like I could articulate some of these difficult things to talk about. And this was one of them, and it actually wasn’t difficult at all, and it actually wasn’t difficult at all, it was like a really beautiful, fun writing experience. Like, we all really enjoyed writing it. […] Yeah, so I feel like I just really wanted to write this song for my brother, about my brother. I feel like I have written a lot of songs that are you know, about romantic […] romantic relationships. And I think that is obviously standard, and totally fine, and I have plenty of romantic songs that are on this album. I think there are so many different relationships that life has to offer you, and the one with your sibling is very important, and I think it can also be very complex. Ryder has played definitely one of, if not the most important roles in my life. Felt like it was time to give him a song. This one’s for you Ryder. Shout out to Ryder, we love you.

“Nothing Matters But You”, a personal and hopeful track, speaks about Madison’s relationship with her current boyfriend Nick Austin, and about how nothing else matters in the world except for him; while “I Wonder”, though musically slow, is lyrically the response to the album opener “Spinnin”, with Madison outlining that sometimes she feels lighter and happier, and that ‘…each breath of air is sweeter, birds are singin’, grass is greener, suddenly, the world is bright again, I used to live to die by somebody else’s side, but now a new day breaks and I feel fine, I wonder why…’. “At Your Worst”, a track where Madison sings about her father, is where she mentions that she and his other loved ones and family members love him unconditionally- even in his lowest points and at his worst, even though later on in the song, she realises that she is becoming like her father, that ‘…sometimes I still hate myself the way you made me hate myself, it hurts to know I hurt, the ones who love me at my worst, I’m sorry I don’t trust myself enough to trust somebody else, it hurts to know I hurt the only ones who love me at my worst…’; while the tactical, smooth and sultry “Showed Me (How I Feel In Love With You)” speaks about Madison learning from her ex how to command a room and to persuade people to instantly fall in love with her. “Home To Another One”, a dance/pop number, is where Madison reflects and ponders over what-ifs and regrets, and wonders if her ex still thinks about her or if he doesn’t give her a second thought and instead focuses on his new family; while the contemplative and reflective piano piece “Dangerous” speaks about wondering if being so headstrong and intense about love is too dangerous or not: I’m currently in my third long-term relationship and I’ve done a lot of self-reflection over the last two years – a whole lot of therapy, a whole lot of spiritual endeavors, and just learning about myself. Part of that, for me, has been to reflect. There have been times where I was like, “Is it me?” When you’re, like, the common denominator in something, am I the drama? It’s one of those things where I had a moment of self-reflection. Being the dramatic Pisces I am, I definitely had times thinking, “Maybe I’m unlovable?” and I think we all go through phases of that. I’ve learned through therapy and a lot of love for myself, that I’m not, and I’m not too dangerous to love, but this song is about that feeling when you’re in that headspace.

“Reckless”, a relationship break-up song, speaks about Madison finding out about her ex’s infidelity, and wondering how he could be so reckless with her heart; while the penultimate track (the title track) is probably the most honest and emotional I’ve heard Madison- as she speaks about topics such as loneliness, heartache and feelings of being alone, unloved, unworthy and unwanted. Silence Between Songs then ends with the scathing, mocking and contemptuous melody “King Of Everything”, where Madison sings about Scooter Braun, and the fact that he might end up alone, as everything he’s done to get where he is today at the top of the music industry- by taking advantage of young people and young artists- will come back to bite him in the end.

Madison Beer is a unique artist whom I reckon may people do not take seriously. She has a ‘barbie’ look, but her songs aren’t superficial nor shallow though. Life Support may not be in my demographic, but Silence Between Songs is a superb album no matter which way you slice it. It may be on the softer side musically. But this batch of songs on the whole is well worth the listen. As we delve deep into the secrets of Madison’s mind and her complicated relationships with her friends and family; may we remember and conclude that famous people are people just like us. Madison has issues just like us, and that should comfort us, even if we don’t know how to fix every issue. Silence Between Songs isn’t for the faint of hearted. But you will learn something out of it- I guarantee that. Well done Madison, I can’t wait to hear what’s next from you in the future!

I’ve grown up a lot since Life Support. I’ve learned what I want to say, and I’m always trying to go with the flow and pull inspiration from whatever life throws at me. Every song is kind of different. If I come in with an idea, we’ll go to the lyrics first, and then we’ll just get on with it. Or if we want to start with some chords, we’ll do that. I just do things that I feel ready to share or ready to talk about, try not to rush into opening up about anything just because I feel like I should, you know? I just take it easy on myself and do it as I feel… I just wanna take things one day at a time, and if today these things feel good to talk about, then I’ll happily talk about them.