In a London scene that never stops mutating, MADELEINE is quietly becoming one of the most compelling new voices in nu-jazz and UK soul — a singer, songwriter, and producer who treats genre like a living thing. Her sound moves with the curiosity of progressive electronics, nodding to the left-field brilliance of Flying Lotus and Kiefer, yet it lands with the warmth and melodic intelligence of writers like Lianne La Havas and Stevie Wonder. It’s music that feels both intimate and engineered for wide skies.
That duality makes sense when you trace her beginnings. Raised in a musical family, MADELEINE’s roots sink deep into jazz, soul, and fusion — the kind of foundation that teaches you to listen for nuance, not noise. Classically trained on piano and violin from the age of seven, she didn’t just learn technique; she learned discipline, dynamics, and the emotional architecture behind a great performance. From there, her musical appetite expanded fast, pulling from an eclectic range of sounds and scenes, shaping an artist who can speak multiple musical languages without losing her accent.
Over the past couple of years, that voice has been workshopped, refined, and expertly crafted across two worlds: the solitude of her home studio and the restless momentum of life on the road. Touring as a keyboardist for artists including Olivia Dean, Jorja Smith, and Rachel Chinouriri, MADELEINE has been absorbing the energy of contemporary UK soul from the inside — watching crowds breathe with songs, learning what hits the heart in real time, and returning to her own work with sharper instincts.
Her new single, “Give Back to Her,” arrives as both a continuation and a shift. It returns to themes of nature and balance, but this time with a dystopian edge — a darker tint informed by the new realities that have settled in since her last project. There’s a sense that the world has changed its posture, and the music responds accordingly: still soulful, still searching, but more alert to what’s at stake.
As the first track from her forthcoming EP, Earth Cry, “Give Back to Her” is an exploration of future soul through the lens of London’s electronic-infused sound waves. It balances organic textures with an intergalactic interpretation of the city’s pulse — a soundscape where human feeling meets machine shimmer, and where the skyline feels like part of the arrangement.
At its core, the track is a meditation on balance: internal balance, mental health, and the fragile equilibrium of the natural world. MADELEINE asks what it means to stay centred when everything around you is accelerating — and what it means to give back to a planet that has given us everything, even as we continue to take. In her hands, these ideas don’t arrive as slogans. They arrive as atmosphere, melody, and motion — the kind of song that makes you move first, then think, then feel it all again.
With Earth Cry on the horizon, MADELEINE isn’t just emerging — she’s building a world. And if “Give Back to Her” is the opening chapter, it’s clear we’re stepping into a story where soul music doesn’t only reflect the times; it challenges them.
Listen to the track here!
https://idol-io.ffm.to/givebacktoher
Photo by Ginger Dope, courtesy of Bridge The Gap
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