Once upon a time, Madaila were poised to be the next Vermont band to break out of the Green Mountain scene. Their 2015 album, The Dance, and 2016 follow-up, Traces, generated millions of streams on Spotify. Madaila popped up in publications such as Relix and Paste, which praised their high-energy brand of indie-dance-jam-pop.
But in 2018, singer-songwriter and front man Mark Daly shut down the project in order to spend more time with his family. He revived the Madaila name in subsequent years for a series of records that were essentially solo projects, leaning further and further into the marriage of electronic and acoustic sounds, a kind of club-folk vibe.
On Madaila's latest record, The Suite, the band is back — sort of. What Daly has dubbed Madaila 2.0 bears some similarities to the original lineup, with a crew of top Burlington musicians backing him up. Founding member Jer Coons returns, though he's traded the bass for the guitar this go-round. Kat Wright bassist Josh Weinstein, who appeared in earlier versions of Madaila, is also back, joined by newcomers Steve Hadeka (Matthew Mercury) on drums and Villanelles keyboardist Zane Gunderson. Rounding out the refresh are Will Andrews, aka Willverine, on synth and trumpet and pedal steel player Tony Naples.
That this Madaila isn't exactly the Obama-era version is demonstrated immediately on opener "By Myself." The band's dancier elements are restrained, if not largely chucked right out the window, in favor of a slick coating of indie pop.
Madaila, The Suite. Courtesy
"I know I can't do this by myself," Daly sings over a churning electronic beat, perhaps acknowledging that sometimes it's better to bring some friends along for the ride.
A trace of adult contemporary has slipped into Madaila's sound on The Suite, similar to Peter Gabriel's late-'80s catalog when he moved away from spikier sounds to embrace world music and pop. On tunes such as "In the Dead of Night" and "Call It a Day," Daly's songwriting has evolved to focus on the elements of R&B and soul that were merely hinted at in his earlier work.
Despite the new lineup, much of the album still closely resembles the solo-Daly period of Madaila. "Thrown Into the Fire" gives a nice glimpse of the full crew, with delightful harmonies and stellar guitar work from Coons. Andrews' trumpet joins the synths to create a bedrock of warm, comforting sounds.
That sense of peace and tranquility permeates most of The Suite. The neon-tinted vitality of the band's original sound has been replaced by the songs of an older, wiser writer.
It's understandable why a songwriter who mostly wanted to get people dancing a decade ago has shifted toward more contemplative work in the chaotic landscape of 2024. "Light Ahead," with its glacial synths, tender melodic thrust and mournful pedal steel lines, seems much more fitting for the world Daly inhabits these days than the candy-sweet jams of a tune like "Realization" from Traces. It will be fascinating to see if longtime fans, man of whom soundtracked their college years with Madaila and are now grown-ups themselves, hop back in and ride with the band again.
Daly and the new-look Madaila celebrate the release of The Suite on Saturday, November 16, at the Higher Ground Showcase Lounge in South Burlington. The album is available now on all major streaming platforms.
