Album Review: Madeline Allen Sets the Summer Mood with "CH11LN"
Updated: Aug 25, 2021
The Santa Maria based singer/songwriter, Madeline Allen, recently unveiled her latest project with the change of seasons. Springing forward into her career, Allen chose to drop her new project as an extended playlist to her first mixtape "Channel 11". With rising temperatures and clear skies here on the Central Coast, there isn't a better time than now to turn up the volume and drift away to her new collection of songs.
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Originally born in Minnesota, Allen now resides in the Orcutt/Santa Maria area of California, a newfound homebase for her artistic path. The Central Coast has stayed in the shadows of cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles for some time, yet the area is a beacon of raw talent and shining stars ready to be discovered. Local media platforms like Connect The Coast and Central Coast Beat Social are at the forefront of spotlighting this new generation of artists and fostering collaborative communties. Over the years, Allen's relationship with the local music scene has allowed her to perform at live events and gain radio placements.
As a follow up to her first ep, "CH11LN" is a selection of late night vibes catered for those in their feels. Legitimate love songs to relax and chill to. Listeners are in for a treat with Allen's standout cadence and lyrics paired with bumping beats and melodies. Tracks like "Brown Liquor" and "Mood" are sure to set the tone for any lovers looking to find the right songs for their salacious playlists.
We had the opportunity to chat with Madeline Allen to dive further into her latest release.
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Here's what she had to say:
Q: How long have you been making music?
A: I've been making music ever since I was a little kid I guess. My mom would say I'd be singing about everything, so I've always been a singer songwriter haha.
One of my first memories was when when I still lived in Minnesota, so I was 3 or under, and I asked my parents to turn off the radio in the car because I wanted to sing a song (lol) and they turned off the radio and I remember just saying words and singing a song. I knew the song repeated the same words at some point, so I remember doing that haha. So I've always been creating music.
Q: Have you had any other press coverage over your career?
A: Yes! One of my biggest blessings is all the love and support from the community. It always surprises me when people repost my stuff, which I still consider press coverage to be honest haha. I've had professional press coverage as well. ALT 100.9 radio station played two of my songs for their SLOcal (san luis obispo local) segment when I lived in SLO for this past fall - spring.
Wild 106 also blessed me by putting my single "Red Dot" into rotation which blew my mind! I received an interview with one of their radio hosts, Jackie Hollywood, soon after over FaceTime, due to the pandemic restrictions but it was super entertaining and will be up on my Youtube page soon.
I also have two other interviews on my page right now, one with Lorde Sanctus from Connect the Coast and one with Jeffy Obvious.
Q: How did you create your newest project, "CH11LN"?
A: CH11LN was created as an extended playlist for my first mixtape Channel 11. Channel 11 was the beginning of this career, so I wanted to create it to show who I am, why I'm here and what I care about. I felt like it didn't match to have love songs on there because it was a very activist motivated album about important topics. It also has the theme of media, so CH11LN was created as a little mini playlist that adds to the media theme, created with the intention of being late night jams on the radio.
You know, the ones that come on after 8pm where people would call in and dedicate them to someone, so CH11LN stands for Channel 11 Late Night. There is 4 different producers on the project: (in order) Relle, Stoic Beats, Eem Triplin, and Fika Beats. Shout out to Fika Beats for letting me create with his music free of charge <3 !! All of these songs were mixed and mastered and engineered by Lil Bonez. Half of it was recorded at his home studio and then he bought and built a studio in Santa Maria. We finished recording the rest of the project at that new space, Room 33 Recording Studios.
Q: Do you have any plans for the summer?
A: I have a performance this Monday, June 28th, on The Mixtape Podcast. I also have a contest coming up as well for all the artists on the coast. I have a track I recorded with an open verse, so any artist can submit a verse via instagram and then I'll pick two people to be on the final track and have their studio time and our music video fees covered! ALSO I'm so blessed to have a few collaborations coming out with Central Coast Gia, Vanessa Lynnae, and Crazy Boy this year.
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