New Music: Madeline Goldstein – Apogee

Apogee is not only the second single from her upcoming album; it’s also Madeline Goldstein’s first since recently signing to Artoffact Records.

I often find myself going back to Goldstein’s 2023 Other World EP, such is its icy analogue-sounding perfection. Apogee does signal something of a progression from then, as the Italo elements are to the fore, but so too is the deliciously doomy siren call of Madeline Goldstein herself, luring old fans and new into this mournful and majestic sad pop banger.

The track has a physical component that harks back to the early days of Test Dept. and SPK. “This particular track is the first and only co-write between Matia Simovich and myself thus far in our collaboration,” says Goldstein.

“We built it from the ground up in the studio (and literally from the grounds surrounding the studio, dragging wrenches across chain link fences to create the percussive elements, etc.). Apogee was a true effort of everyone in the studio, but ultimately the most personal song on the record for me, in terms of the narrative.”

“In its most abstract, Apogee is about that moment or shift, when you feel you’re at the edge or the end of something, and all the ways in which the narrative of ‘that thing’ can transform and mutate in your unreliable memory. It’s about the fear of the unknown; it’s about having no control against the inevitable and submitting. It’s a crying-on-the-dance-floor kind of thing.”

Apogee can be streamed on all major music platforms, including Bandcamp, SoundCloud, and Spotify. For all the latest album news from Madeline Goldstein, be sure to check out her Instagram feed.