Maddie Ross To Release Debut Album ‘Never Have I Ever’ on May 10 via Sentimental Records

L.A. indie rocker Maddie Ross understands the importance of creating authentic music, and the necessity of visible, queer role models. The songwriter crafts guitar-driven pop anthems about her producer, co-writer, Sentimental Records label co-founder, and longtime girlfriend Wolfy. Ross’s debut, full-length album, Never Have I Ever, is set to be released on May 10 via Sentimental Records. Ahead of the release, she just shared her new track “Tell Your Friends” – listen + share via Youtube.

To celebrate the upcoming release, Maddie and Wolfy designed an imaginary early ’00s teen zine named Sentimental Records Magazine, detailing the album along with playful interviews, satirical quizzes, favorite Cosmo sex tips, and much more – enjoy here.

“Tell Your Friends” kicks off the LP by painting the picture of a high school morning drop-off scene, where the new kid pulls up to school for the first time. One can imagine a camera panning to different cliques standing around, with everybody looking unapproachable no matter what group they’re in (i.e. Mean Girls, Easy A, Ten Things I Hate About You, etc.) It’s about inviting everyone to a party, and is supposed to feel inclusive and positive, like graduation night when all of the drama has passed and everybody is down to drink together, no matter their old friend groups.

“My music has gotten a lot of comparisons to teen movies and ‘girly’ pop rock. We were like ‘Fuck yeah, that’s exactly right’. So for this LP, every song is written to score an iconic scene from our favorite teen movies,” explains Maddie.

Never Have I Ever paints a picture of raging house parties, sweet first-time same-sex crushes, and devastating moments like when you find out that “It Was All A Bet“. The album bursts at the seams with energy, humor, infectious melodies, confessional lyrics, and abundant references to some of the best hits and movie synchs of the ’90s and ’00s. The LP moves rapidly through different scenes, including falling in love at first sight in “Miracle” (inspired by Jennifer Love Hewitt entering the room in Can’t Hardly Wait), a makeover montage, and nervously going on a “First Date“. Towards the end of the album, the lead character heart-breakingly finds out that the relationship was all a bet (à laShe’s All That). By the final track, she comes to terms with the fact that their love is real, and the credits roll on them kissing and walking into the sunset.

Yet, while each song is heavily inspired by specific movie scenes, the lyrical content is much more personal. Most of the movies referenced are devoid of the anguish, self-discovery, and eventual pride embedded in the adolescent queer love experience.

As Ross puts it, “We really tried to think of each song as more of a movie score. The lyrics aren’t describing the scene that is happening, they’re just a perfect backdrop. Never Have I Ever is inspired by a variety of movies, but the story it tells follows a plot of its own. In our wildest fantasies, someone would write an adorable girl-meets-girl rom com, and use the entire album as a score.”

Never Have I Ever was made entirely by women, produced by Wolfy and co-written between the couple. It follows Ross’ most recent release, the Touch Hands, Touch Bodies EP, which debuted at BlackBook and was #25 on Billboardstaff’s ‘25 Best Rock Albums of 2018‘, earning Maddie their title of, “The Best DIY Rock Star You’ve Never Heard Of”.

Ross will tour in support of Never Have I Ever in May of 2019, once again opening for KT Tunstall on a run of East Coast dates. Hitting the road with an entire batch of new songs, Maddie will play venues such as New York’s Bowery Ballroom, Washington D.C.’s Union Stage, and Toronto’s Horseshoe Tavern. Stay tuned for more announcements on the horizon.