Madina Lake
The Beginning of New Endings

Release Date: 2020 | Tracklist

It seemed a done deal that we would never see Madina Lake again after the 2011 album World War III was released. When brothers Nathan and Matthew Leone decided to walk into the sunset with heads held high it could have been the perfect ending to a story that almost never finished and almost ended in absolute disaster. There was the stress of leaving a large label that led to figuring out how to make and get WW3 out. They still needed to finish a huge concept story that started on an EP and took three more full length albums to complete. Before the final album could be made there was the personal heroics of Matthew Leone that led to severe personal struggle after witnessing a man beating his wife on the streets of Chicago and trying to stop it. It took several major surgeries for Matt to recover from a fractured skull, broken jaw, and swollen brain. His brother Nathan was also close by, witnessed the whole thing, and then had to get his brother medical help. Fellow Chicago musician Billy Corgan raised $80,000 at a Smashing Pumpkins concert to help pay for the medical bills. No one could blame the brothers for being done after such emotional, mental, and physical strains.

With a decade passing the brothers needed a creative space to let out the new strains that had accumulated. What took shape is EP The Beginnings of New Endings. Madina Lake once again return and in 2020 create a flurry of styles that encompass everything they've already done and more in about twenty-two minutes. As the extended play moves along it get better, although the second song may be the weakest of the record. Madina Lake goes full throttle with all of their old stylings of fast paced love songs that are best heard by paying attention to the instrumentals and melodies of the vocals, rather than the lyrics. The first few songs unfortunately are not as good when the lyrics are focused in on, but there are enough tropes being pulled off that it is easy to enjoy the sounds rather than the words; vocalist Nathan has a wide range of emotions and grit he employs to make up for any nauseating lyrics.

The final two songs are the skin around the meat of the EP. Heart of Gold is an epic four minute song that includes the trademark piano arrangement the band became known for on their full length albums. Madina has always had a knack of throwing in songs that will surprise people by completely switching things up with a heavier style near or at the end of a record. In a way it happens again on New Endings, but with a new softer style the band has never done before. They manage to create a nine minute swan song that admittedly could have been cut down to seven minutes, but it still executes as an amazing closer. This new approach serves Nathans' vocals quite well as he takes full advantage of the time and only goes a little overboard extending some parts a tad more than needed. Overall, New Endings is primarily a fun affair. Nostalgia runs through every song with enough character to attract new listeners and get them to check out the old stuff. Hopefully this is a sign of more things to come.

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