Each of us has a whole archive of unspoken words. Entire dialogues, monologues, and passionate speeches that we replay in our heads late at night but never dare to say out loud. They accumulate inside, grow heavier, and turn into an emotional burden. And then Maddison Kate from Meanjin, Australia, appears, and I realize: she has broken into that archive, our common archive, and given a voice to our collective silence.

Right now, while outside the window is a gray and faceless day, I decided to listen to her debut EP ‘What I’d Say To You’ because my mood now simply calls for something in the indie-folk genre. And I was right with Maddison Kate. She entrusts her most cherished secrets, and her guitar, violin, and piano respond to her like the most devoted friends.

photo by Samuel Murray

But who is this girl with the voice of an angel and the soul of an old sage? Her debut EP did not appear out of nowhere. It is the culmination of a long journey. Maddison Kate began performing at open mic nights when she was only nine. Just imagine: a little girl with only a guitar and a voice, already trying to tell her story. This image says a lot about her determination and innate need for self-expression.

Her talent did not go unnoticed. She honed her skills at iconic Australian festivals, from Gympie Music Muster to Queensland Music Festival, and even opened for Kyle Lionheart. There is no trace of sudden success here. In fact, her festival performances and competition wins are only the visible part of the iceberg. Underwater lie hundreds of hours spent alone with her guitar, trying to find words for what is happening inside. In her interview, she calls her state “growing pains” — a phrase that strikes directly at the heart.

How familiar this is. That very age when you are at the same time invulnerable and broken into a million pieces, when the world both frightens and attracts. Maddison has found the exact words for it, she has created the perfect soundtrack for these memories. She says she hopes her songs will help people feel less lonely. However, Kate makes me relive these moments again, but without pain — only with light sadness and the understanding that all of it was not in vain. Listening to her, I suddenly realize that all my old scars are not ugliness, but part of a beautiful, though difficult, story. The whole EP is one large stained-glass window into her soul, and each of the four songs is a separate, shining piece of glass, painted in its own unique color of experience.

The first piece of this stained glass — ‘A Truth’. It burns with a fierce, crimson flame. And what I hear is not quiet sadness after a breakup. Oh no. A real storm rushes through. Thundering drums pulse, and the pulsation beats in the temples with anger. A piercing violin screams, and the scream gets stuck in the throat. Maddison pours out everything she has kept inside for so long, and in this sonic whirlwind of mandolin and piano I feel incredible release.

Then the storm calms, and we move on to ‘More To Me’. A fragment of gentle blue appears, the color of the morning sky after a thunderstorm. And a quiet, fragile conversation with herself begins. Her fingers weave intricate lace on the guitar strings, and her angelic voice asks questions painfully familiar. What if it really is better this way? What if I am worth more? A painful but necessary realization of one’s own value, mixed with a quiet hope that the other will one day understand.

photo by Samuel Murray

I have already listened to this track about five times, and each time I find in it a new shade of sadness and strength. It is not hard to guess who exactly influenced her. Maddison herself speaks of Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran, and here I hear that storytelling school at its best. That very vulnerability and honesty that captivates from the first line is here.

But healing is a non-linear path. And the next panel in this window, ‘Alive’, is the darkest, the color of deep indigo night. A song-abyss. Minimalist guitar and backing vocals create a sense of vacuum, of emptiness that remains after a great loss. I physically feel how this crushing crescendo builds, how dark thoughts gather into a snowball ready to cover me completely. An honest, unembellished look into the face of loneliness, and the aching sincerity sends shivers down the skin.

And when it seems that hope is gone, the last song — ‘Flowered Heart’ — begins to play. And pure, warm, honey light pours in. Dawn comes. A twelve-string guitar and blossoming piano create an almost romantic, ballroom atmosphere. We are given a track-reminder: wounds heal. Growth happens. A heart, even broken, is able to bloom again. Maddison’s voice here sounds peaceful and wise; she literally embraces you with her music.

Maddison Kate is the heir to a great tradition of storytellers. She speaks with love about Missy Higgins, and I see this continuity — in authenticity, in the courage to be herself. She does not try to appear as someone else. She takes the most complex, tangled knots of human emotions and unravels them into elegant, understandable, and incredibly beautiful melodies.

‘What I’d Say To You’ is, for me, a friend who understands you without words. A therapy session that can be played at any time. Permission to feel everything — rage, longing, fragile hope. Maddison Kate is only starting her journey, but her voice already sounds so confident and honest that there is no doubt: we are witnessing the birth of a great and important artist. And I am incredibly glad to be a witness to her path from the very beginning. She legitimizes our own tangled, beautiful, unspoken stories. And for that, I thank her greatly.

*This review was made possible by SubmitHub