Madison Cunningham on new album "Ace," her most personal and poignant work yet.

Ace is Grammy Award-winning Madison Cunninham’s most personal and poignant work yet, and though it’s a step into new territory lyrically, her artistic vision is stronger than ever.

Those who have been following Madison Cunnigham’s work closely may have noticed that her songs aren’t usually of the heartbreak variety, opting instead for matters like identity or family or observations of others. Her upcoming record, Ace, however, plunges into the mire, examining her own heartbreak and breaking the mold of what her artistic process looks like.

The songs on Ace spilled out after a nearly year-long silence. Upended by heartbreak, she found herself unable to write for a time, cut off from her access to language and music by a pervading numbness. Though disoriented, she felt a tipping point at hand.

“I knew it was going to change the kind of artist I was, and there was a real possibility of losing touch with everything.”

Eventually though, encouraged by a song-sharing group text between her musician friends, she began writing again. Within just a couple months, Ace was written. The breakthrough wasn’t without its trials though. She particularly found it difficult to navigate how to tell a story that inherently has multiple perspectives.

“In tricky matters like heartbreak, I always get really worried that it's gonna sound too one-sided…It is one-sided. It’s my perspective. That doesn't mean that that's the whole truth. It’s just that it’s my piece of it.”

Ultimately, the songs were best served by not qualifying her feelings but rather owning them fully. For cuts like “Beyond That Moon” in particular, she felt that the material was so close to the bone that it was hard to fully articulate, but:

“It just took one moment of honesty in the writing to make the whole thing feel like it was working and had a motor behind it.”

Cunningham says that her biggest challenge was being nervous to sing about it all, though she takes her nerves–and occasional embarrassment–as a good sign. While there may be fear associated with the kind of raw vulnerability she poured into Ace, she also spoke to the freedom that came with it.

“I find relief in singing the songs, even though they bring up memories. They’re heavy for me on a personal level, but I think there’s lightness in that, too. There’s freedom in being able to express that.” 

Cunningham calls the singles for the record, “My Full Name” and “Wake,” its linchpins. They’re lyrical introductions, “describing what the heartbeat of the record narrative is about,” but they also stretch what artistry looks like for her. Cunningham is known best for her guitar chops, flush with unique tunings and clever riffs, but opening single “My Full Name” is a piano ballad. She says that her intention here was to focus on a melodic imprint rather than a sonic one. The two-way exchange in “Wake” is a fluid piece with a unique form compared to her other songs, meant to be sung from either direction. Always intended as a duet, she invited Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes–whom she’d met at a show of hers several years prior and felt an instant connection with–to sing the other half. Cunningham describes the experience rather felicitously.

“I don't know that we fully talked about what the song was about… it was almost like we didn't need to. It was unspoken.”    

Despite changes to her lyricism and writing process, Cunningham seems more confident than ever about her artistic voice. On a technical level, this is the first album of hers that she has co-produced in its entirety. She also picked all the musicians (including members of her long-time touring band) that played on it and was involved in every aspect of the decision-making and sound choices. Sonically, she has detached herself from the idea of staying consistent with past records, caring only about Ace’s individual cohesiveness and freeing herself up to experimenting with her sound. The visuals are also very intentional, with Cunningham citing swans as a major inspiration. Her expression on the cover is meant to be ambiguous, containing flashes of sadness, longing, and even anger depending on how you look at it. She likens it to a “mood ring” through which every emotion on Ace can filter. 

Most importantly, Cunningham describes feeling emboldened to finally claim full ownership of the narrative in her songs.

“The stories were mine for the first time... I knew exactly what every word meant.”

Ace is the culmination of a healing process, at times grueling, at times liberating. She refers to it as a “burial ground,” and while this sounds solemn, she turns that notion on its head.

“It feels like each musical vignette was a way to put something underground, or plant a grief seed, and then something grows out of that.”

It’s a project where pain is felt, named, then alchemized into something Cunningham can fully call her own while still inviting others to see themselves in her story. 

"Ace" will be released Oct. 10, 2025, via Verve Forecast Records