Kevin Bronson on October 21st, 2020

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Singer-songwriter Madeleine Mathews — who releases music as MAWD — hails from a small town in the California foothills, went to college at Chico State and moved to L.A. in 2017. It wasn’t long before she was exposed to the temptations of L.A. life.

“Demons,” MAWD’s first new music in two years, speaks to that indoctrination: “Staying out too late, drinking too much and coming to terms with the inevitable change when moving from a small town to a big city — like not being able to see a clear night sky,” she says. And, perhaps, falling in love too quickly.

The real demons, of course, aren’t vices like drinking and drugs, but the depression, doubt and anxiety at their root source. On her new single, MAWD sings like those things don’t have a chance — assured, even swaggering, as she unveils a sound that moves past the retro-inspired folk- and blues-rock on her 2018 EP.

The first single from sessions with co-writer and producer Josiah Mazzaschi, “Demons” resides musically in multiple eras (in the same sort of way the music of Elle King does). There’s some of the brassy ’60s, indie-rock guitar and bass and a “quirky disco violin (inspired by Boney M and ABBA),” she says. Over it all, MAWD sounds sultry and irrepressible.

“Demons,” MAWD’s first original since 2018’s single “Wandering Eye,” is officially out on Friday, the first single from a full-length whose release, she says, will depend on how the pandemic plays out.

||| Stream: “Demons”

||| Previously: “Dark Room”