A version of this story appears in Friday's Weekend Life section of The Oklahoman.
All the 'Feels': Oklahoma-Texas country duo Maddie & Tae releases long-awaited sophom*ore LP
Maddie Marlow and Taylor Dye have learned to value the gift they received but didn't want.
"We didn’t really choose to have this huge amount of time in between albums, but in the middle of making what we thought, was gonna be our sophom*ore record, our label had shut down and so we were kind of in this limbo of you know this weird career thing where we had all this momentum and we’re on top of the world and then all of a sudden everything is crashing down," Marlow said in a fall phone interview.
The Oklahoma-Texas country music duo - Dye hails from Ada, while Marlow is from Sugar Land, Texas - are releasing Friday their long-awaited second full-length album "The Way It Feels" via Mercury Nashville. Their sophom*ore effort follows nearly five full years after the bow of their debut album, 2015's "Start Here."
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"The timing definitely worked out," Dye said. "We needed the time to grow and we needed the time to learn to fall to get back up to really just learn what we stood for and kind of realize that we are so much more than this career."
Growing up
Marlow had just celebrated her 19th birthday - a milestone Dye hadn't quite reached - when the duo broke out with their smash debut single "Girl in a Country Song" in the summer of 2014.
The platinum-selling pair released their debut album on the reactivated Dot Records, but by 2017, the label had shuttered. In 2018, Maddie & Tae signed with Mercury Nashville, and last year, they released two five-song EPs - springs "One Heart to Another" and fall's "Everywhere I'm Goin'" - their first new music since 2015.
Produced by Jimmy Robbins and Derek Wells, the new LP includes the 10 songs from their two 2019 EPs, plus five additional tracks.
"We definitely did not go the traditional way with releasing this music. When we decided to go this route it was because we were looking at the collection of songs that we wanted to release and it was a total of 15. So, we thought, 'OK, every single song means so much to us, every single song came from a personal place or that we felt like told our story perfectly, and it needs to have it’s moment,'" Dye said. "So, we thought the best way to release music and let each song live its life would be to split it up. So, let people digest five songs and kind of hear the story line - which we’re telling a story of love lost and redemption in every single project - and you’ll hear the thread top to bottom."
Feeling their way
"The Way It Feels" has all the feels, from the poignant ballad “Die From A Broken Heart” and the rollicking girls' anthem "Bathroom Floor" to the plaintive prayer "Water in His Wine Glass" and the feisty kiss-off "New Dogs Old Tricks."
"We’ve always been writing songs that we hold to a very high standard. We don’t like writing songs just to write songs. We want to write things that mean, have deeper meaning and deeper connections," Marlow said.
Art reflects life in the love song "Trying on Rings," as both performers are newlyweds: Marlow married her longtime boyfriend, Jonah Font, in November, while Dye wed songwriter Josh Kerr in February.
"I think as an artist your goal is to create connection through music ... and that’s our No. 1 priority every single time we get up on stage, every time we write a song, every time we share a video or anything," Marlow said. "We just want to show realness and just our raw lives. ... I think sometimes it’s a little bit scary to put yourself out there that vulnerably. But I think we just keep learning with our career the more vulnerable we get, the more connection and the more success that we have. And I think it’s just because people want real. Tae and I want real. We don’t listen to music that doesn’t move us or create connection with us, so we try to do the same things as artists."
Connecting with mentors
Maddie & Tae have been fortunate to forge strong connections with some of the country music stars they have worked with to date. The pair reconnected with Dierks Bentley for the vulnerable ballad "Lay Here With Me," with the Grammy-nominated hitmaker providing guest vocals on the new song.
