Stream: Madi Diaz, ‘Man in Me’

Kevin Bronson on February 11th, 2021

0

Whether leaning toward the folk universe or pop, Madi Diaz’s songs have always been imbued with a certain emotional tenacity. Its grip is as powerful as ever on her new single “Man in Me,” her first after signing to Anti- Records.

For the Pennsylvania native, who cut her teeth in Nashville before moving to L.A. and back to Nashville again, it’s something of a career reboot. Since releasing her fourth album “Phantom” in 2014 and then heading back to Music City, she’s been working as a songwriter-for-hire. With “Man in Me,” co-produced by by Andrew Sarlo, she refocuses on her own music.

It’s as if she wins an emotional staredown with just the first verse: “Do you imagine me differently / ’Cause when I met you swore that you saw me / When you think I might be someone else / Does it turn you on,” she sings, before letting the entrails of the relationship simmer for the rest of the confessional.

“‘Man In Me’ was the first song I sat down to record for myself in about six years, which is the reason I thought it was so important to release first,” Diaz says. “It’s a very intimately visceral moment, a sort of play-by-play inner monologue, taking my first steps through a really hard time.”

The for the song was directed by Stephen Kinigopoulos.

||| Watch: The video for “Man in Me”