Maddie Regent - On The Phone With My Mom
- Samuel Stevens
- 11 hours ago
- 3 min read
With her radiant debut album On The Phone With My Mom, Toronto-born, Brooklyn-based indie-pop singer-songwriter Maddie Regent delivers a soul-baring, shimmer-drenched meditation on the uneasy passage between girlhood and womanhood. Written and recorded alongside partner/producer Cade Hoppe in the intimacy of their home studio, the fourteen-track record is a stunningly cohesive and emotionally rich body of work, one that confirms Regent as a vital new voice in indie-pop.
From the opening title track, "On The Phone With My Mom," Maddie sets the tone with a short instrumental piece. The album's second track, "Any Day Now," features her delicate vocals layered over soft synths, immediately inviting listeners into her internal dialogue. It’s not a conversation as much as a confessional—gentle, honest, and aching with the paradox of seeking comfort in the familiar while straining toward self-actualization.
A major strength of the album lies in Regent’s ability to contrast sonic sparkle with emotional weight. Tracks like "Sleeptalking" and "Turtleneck"—both previously released singles—are lush with dreamy textures and irresistible hooks, but it’s in their lyrical heartache that the real power lies. On "Turtleneck," she captures the disorientation of heartbreak with quiet devastation: “It’s tempting to ground yourself in the memory of what was, rather than accepting what is,” Maddie shares. The track’s whimsical production only sharpens its underlying pain.
One of the album’s most moving moments arrives with the track "Miss Virgo," a standout that delves into Regent’s past struggles with body image and her time in a recovery center at just seventeen years old. It’s her most autobiographical track yet—a poignant ode to the camaraderie and resilience forged in hardship. There's tenderness in her storytelling, recalling late-night chats, crochet sessions, and the comfort of Pretty Little Liars marathons. This song alone shows Maddie’s fearless ability to alchemize vulnerability into something breathtakingly human.
Elsewhere, she continues to explore the discomfort of uncertainty with pop precision. "The Other Shoe" is a sonic explosion—frenetic and euphoric—about anticipating heartbreak and begging for closure, while "The Wolf" pulses with anxious energy as it recounts the fear of facing a former flame who feels more like a ghost. Both songs exemplify the album’s duality: hyper-catchy choruses built on sharp, reflective foundations. Regent’s lyrical world is populated by archetypes—the "Other Girls," the "Girl Inside Her Head," the "Black Sheep"—each one a mirror to different phases of self-perception. The recurring theme of identity is handled with poetic nuance. On "Fountain of Youth / Man Is A Knife," perhaps the album’s most daring track, she dissects the allure and danger of romanticizing womanhood too early and too often. It's a haunting, shape-shifting track that solidifies the album’s core thesis: femininity is both an armour and an ache.
Closing with "Goodnight," Maddie Regent doesn’t opt for resolution but for quiet surrender. It’s a soft, almost lullaby-like closer solely on a piano and a very delicately finger-picked acoustic guitar, that leaves listeners with a sense of an emotional exhale. She doesn’t pretend to have all the answers, but she’s asking the right questions—and doing so with clarity, empathy, and artistic elegance.
In On The Phone With My Mom, Maddie Regent offers a coming-of-age record that doesn’t just chronicle emotional growth—it embodies it. It’s nostalgic yet forward-facing, fragile yet defiant, and deeply personal while speaking to the universal experience of growing into oneself. With shimmering production, intimate lyricism, and an ear for irresistible melody, Maddie has crafted a debut that doesn’t just make a statement—it makes a home.
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