Last Month, Madi Diaz, “one of music’s most impactful and deliberate songwriters”(Garden & Gun), released Fatal Optimist to rave reviews from critics and fans alike, leading to sold-out shows and landmark profiles in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and beyond. She has now released Enema Of The Garden State, a covers album of blink-182’s seminal Enema Of The State (1999) via ANTI-. It’s available exclusively on Bandcamp and all proceeds benefit Defending Our Neighbors Fund.
Enema Of The Garden State was recorded while Diaz was tracking and writing Fatal Optimist in New Jersey. Diaz comments, “These recordings started out as a fun light exercise fueled by an eternal love and fandom I have for blink-182 and the record Enema Of The State. I wanted to see if I could let the nostalgia drive my memory for the lyrics and tear through a punky acoustic arrangement. No planning, no overthinking, no analyzing allowed, just ripping into the songs. It was just pure fun, pure joy.”
Diaz initially intended to leave the project unreleased, but was motivated by the mass deportations occurring in the U.S. She comments says: “I started thinking about how incredible the name Enema Of The State is for a record. How the title is somehow so current and politically, culturally, socially, insanely ironic. And we thought maybe we could use this version of Enema Of The (Garden) State to raise awareness and money for people in need of defense and aid in their right to live and work and breathe and be and stay on American soil. Every penny this project generates will go to Defending Our Neighbors Fund. This will help give immigrant families, adults, young children, and so many of those in need of advocates, access to resources through this support system. Thank you so much for listening. For me, it’s become so much more than just a nostalgia for teenage rebellion against mom and dad. Fuck ICE. Enema Of The State Forever.”
Defending Our Neighbors Fund is quickly deploying high impact grants to trusted organisations providing legal, and where possible, bond assistance to communities in need who are facing risk of detention and deportation and the continued violation of due process law. This includes organisations serving communities with large immigrant populations, communities in legal deserts, and communities near some of the country’s most active immigration detention and processing centers. To learn more about the Defending Our Neighbors Fund, head here.
Purchase Enema Of The Garden State
All Proceeds Benefit the Defending Our Neighbors Fund
Madi Diaz – ‘Don’t Leave Me’ (blink-182 Cover)
Purchase/Stream Fatal Optimist
“Fatal Optimist is deeply sparse and stripped-down, driven primarily by Diaz’s strong yet uncannily tender voice and acoustic guitar” — New York Times
“Madi Diaz creates such great cathartic music…[these songs] are doing what they’re supposed to.” — NPR Music
“Fatal Optimist scales back [Diaz’s] sound, but not her devastating emotional honesty.” — Rolling Stone
“Madi Diaz … is one of those singer-songwriters capable of drawing you in and extracting massive emotions from you with just an acoustic guitar and her own voice.”— Stereogum
“The timing — and ambition — of Fatal Optimist feels like a turning point for Diaz.” — PEOPLE
Watch:
Madi Diaz – ‘Why’d You Have To Bring Me Flowers’
Madi Diaz Online:
