“I don’t think it’s our perfections that attract us to one another. I think it’s our flaw patterns, kind of like the way a key would fit in a lock,” Jesse Lynn Madera said while discussing her album Speed of Sound.
Madera discusses different relationships throughout the album from the teenage lust of “Austin” to the serious attempt at love she had with an isolated older man. While many stories come from Madera’s own life, others come from observing friends. What they all have in common are the contrast between a complicated situation and straightforward love involved.
“Last Call” describes a woman who clearly values a man more than he does her. “Sweet Pretender” features a cheating man and a woman still trying to recapture his heart. Madera said she’s seen friends in situations like these and has tried to understand where they’re coming from.
“I think it all comes down to pride,” she said. “To have that attention pulled away so quickly, I think it’s just searching for self worth.”
The title track describes a particularly consequential relationship Madera had with a man a decade her senior. He was “parentified” in some ways, she explained, but ultimately preferred isolation and was often unhappy.
“I felt like I had the job of being the sun, being with someone who rarely smiled,” said Madera. “He taught me a lot about work ethic and discipline. He taught me a lot about cooking. Something good comes out of every relationship.”
The song is tender and dramatic and captures her uncompromising desire to meet his needs. Much like in other songs, Madera seems fully aware of his difficulties and that she might not be the best fit for him. But the decision to continue to love him feels urgent and simple.
“I love New York City,” Madera explained. “New York City is dirty and full of rats and not always safe. And I love L.A. despite its reputation for being shallow. I moved around a lot in life and I can celebrate the good even while noticing all the negative aspects.”
The conscious decision to look beyond red flags rather than ignore them or dilute their meaning is the most fascinating part of the album. Right up there is Madera’s belief in a type of fatalism with love. “Ten Miles Down” describes a relationship doomed from the beginning but an attraction so strong that it will catch fire anyway.
Luckily, Madera has found her key. She’s happily married and considers her current relationship to be worlds apart from the painful ones that populate the album.
“You gotta swing the bat a few times in order to hit a home run,” Madera said of her husband. “He set the standard. And not just with loving relationships but with friendships and familial relationships and what I expect.”
Above is the full episode as aired on WUSB’s Country Pocket, including both my interview with Jesse Lynn Madera and the songs we discussed, starting with Ten Miles Down, which dives headlong into a doomed relationship. The interview begins with the second video in the playlist. You can hear the show live every Monday at 11am on WUSB 90.1 FM or check the blog to watch it as a YouTube playlist. Visit http://www.WUSB.fm and https://www.jesselynnmadera.com for more.
Country Pocket 