An incredibly talented indie-pop artist whose music has been featured in The New York Times, Variety, IndieWire, and The Hollywood Reporter, Madeline Rhodes is back in the spotlight with her new single ‘Bailing On Your Birthday’.
A song that champions taking care of yourself and your mental health, ‘Bailing On Your Birthday’ is a heavy, but welcome contrast to the many songs out there about going to a party, getting wasted, and having a great time that you may or may not remember. Built around a vibrant melody and catchy rhythms that shine through bright, danceable moments, Madeline constructs a gorgeous track that puts the listeners front and centre.
Written and recorded with French producer, Gaspard Murphy, ‘Bailing On Your Birthday’ sees Madeline being unapologetic about her prioritisation of self-care, while also seeing the humor in its manifestation. Madeline has been wonderfully open about this song being an account of real-life events that transpired between her and her best friend. She explains, “It was my best friend’s birthday and I was having a terrible depressive episode.” Madeline continued, “I called her after the party had already started and told her I wasn’t coming. She was pissed and I was like ‘It’s not always about you!!!’…on her birthday. Rude. But also kinda true? I wrote this song as an explanation for my absence at her party. I hope that when she hears it, she forgives me.”
Thankfully, the story has a happy ending - after recording the song, Madeline decided to play it for her friend, whose party had inspired the titular lyric and overall concept. Her friend was not at all offended by the song and has since taken a liking to singing the lyrics out loud and playing it proudly for other people.
Madeline was raised by a single mother and five older sisters in a home that her family jokingly refers to as ‘The Brothel’. Growing up in a home rife with mental illness and addiction, Madeline found solace in songwriting using music as a form of therapy and self-expression. After attending NYU for the performing arts and scoring gigs on Broadway, and in television and film, Madeline decided it was finally time to share her own stories with the world. She began releasing music under the stage name MuMu, focusing on the female experience and using her music as a platform for her activism. In 2018, MuMu made her debut with the powerful single ‘Free the Nip’, a feminist anthem that addresses the censorship of the female body.
Her music has been featured in film and television, including Netflix's hit animated series Big Mouth, and in the groundbreaking musical film Best Summer Ever, in which she co-wrote all the music for and had a starring role alongside Maggie Gyllenhaal and Benjamin Bratt.
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