That Brunette Gets Real with ‘Millennium Fig’ EP

That Brunette (aka Madeline Mondrala) released her highly anticipated Millennium Fig EP on August 28th. The EP follows the release of the “Coolest Girl” single written as a love letter to a longtime friend. In the EP, That Brunette continues to draw lyrical inspiration from existential observations and self-realizations. “It’s about feeling overwhelmed by modernity,” says Mondrala (That Brunette). “It’s also about writer’s block, procrastination, and learning self-love.”

Millennium Fig features two cutting tracks: “Millennium Blues” and “Fig Tree.” That Brunette says “Millennium Blues” takes listeners through her story of realizing she was running in the wrong direction in life, and how she had to accept her mistakes in order to turn things around. “It felt freeing to start all over again with the knowledge I’d gained from my experiences,” says Mondrala (That Brunette). “Fig Tree” is inspired by a Sylvia Plath quote and “focuses on finding gratitude for our own personal, beautiful, metaphorical fig.” (That Brunette)

The project speaks from That Brunette’s perspective, but it can be translated to fit every listener’s experience. Millennium Fig is about the growing pains of humanity, starting over at square one, and discovering who you truly are. “You could say it’s about being a creative person in the new millennium, when options are limitless, over-saturation is inevitable, and self-worth is measured in followers,” says Mondrala (That Brunette). “But I say it’s about rejecting that notion completely.”

It should also be noted That Brunette will be celebrating the release of her EP with the online Bubble Ball Event on August 29th. More information here.

That Brunette (aka Madeline Mondrala) is a Brooklyn based Experimental Pop songwriter and performer. Having written her first song at age eight, she promptly began performing her creations for her classmates on the schoolyard at recess. Originally from Los Angeles, Mondrala attended the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College in New York, alongside artists like Mitski, Verité, and Sean McVerry. Her first EP Cloud (2013) was acclaimed by top-tier taste making blogs such as The Line of Best Fit for “blending classically nuanced pop styles to hypnotic perfection”. In 2014 she was awarded the Thayer Fellowship grant for demonstrating “outstanding achievement and high professional potential in the arts.” Soon after, Madeline was sought out by BMG Publishing and signed as a writer/artist. During this time, she worked with producers such as Dem Jointz (Brandy, Rihanna), Larzz Principato (Dua Lipa, Halsey) and Ryan Marrone (Nicki Minaj) to name a few. Her sophomore EP Madelin (2017) garnered attention for its feminist anthem “Good List”, appearing in a myriad of music publications including Ladygunn and Popdust. Soon after, Madeline set off to pursue her music independently. Her subsequent music video for her single “High School Boys” premiered in Billboard and was embraced by the queer/drag artist community in Brooklyn. Madeline’s 7-track album Then Her Head Fell Off was released in 2019 completely independently. Despite discouragement towards this set of songs from her former management, it was met with praise in the indie scene. Gabriel Akins of Substream Magazine aptly wrote “Madeline does whatever she wants to and nails all of it.” Having spent the last two years writing and recording new music, Madeline is ready to take full ownership of her artistry and embark on a path of deliberate authenticity under her new moniker “That Brunette”.