• News

• All

Jul 31, 2020 By Christopher Roberts Madeline Kenney

Oakland, CA-based singer/songwriter Madeline Kenney has released a new album, Sucker’s Lunch, today via Carpark. Now that it’s out you can stream the whole thing below. Today we posted our review of the album and you can read that here.

Sucker’s Lunch is Kenney’s third album, the follow-up to 2018’s Perfect Shapes and her 2017-released debut album, Night Night at the First Landing (which was produced by Toro Y Moi’s Chaz Bear). Perfect Shapes was produced by Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak and Flock of Dimes. Wasner returns as producer for Sucker’s Lunch, but this time she’s joined by her Wye Oak bandmate Andy Stack (aka Joyero). The album was recorded in Durham, Oakland, and San Francisco.

Previously Kenney shared “Double Hearted” along with a lyric video as well as the album’s first single, “Sucker,” via a self-directed video for the track. “Sucker” featured guest vocals from Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner and was #1 on our Songs of the Week list. “Double Hearted” was also one of our Songs of the Week. Then she shared “Picture of You,” also via a video, which was also #1 on our Songs of the Week list. Then she shared one last pre-release single from it, “White Window Light.” She also shared a new live video for the song.

A previous press release explained that “thematically, Sucker’s Lunch sees Kenney soberly contrasting the risks and rewards of falling in love, eventually deciding to dive headfirst into her own foolishness and relish in the unknowing.”

Kenney elaborated in the press release: “I’m not interested in something easy or immediately apparent. My experience writing these songs wasn’t easy, it was painful and difficult. I was terrified of falling in love, and as much as I’d like to write a sticky sweet song for someone, it doesn’t come naturally to me. Instead I wanted to explore the tiny moments; sitting alone in my room guessing what the other person was thinking, spiraling into a maze of logical reasons to bail and finding my way out again. When I spoke with friends about the theme of the ‘idiot,’ it became apparent that everyone understood that feeling and was relieved to hear it echoed in someone else.”

In 2019 Kenney shared the new song “Helpless” as part of a split 7-inch with Flock of Dimes.

Read our recent COVID-19 Quarantine Artist Check In interview with Kenney.

Read Kenney’s Underrated Album post for us on Paul Simon’s One Trick Pony.

Read our 2017 Pleased to Meet You interview with Madeline Kenney.

Read our 2017 Artist Survey interview with Madeline Kenney.

Support Under the Radar on Patreon.