‘Songland’ Winner Madeline Merlo Releases New Music

It's been a huge week for Madeline!

‘Songland’ Winner Madeline Merlo Releases New Music
Madeline Merlo; Photo credit: Mitch Nevins

Singer-songwriter Madeline Merlo is riding the wave of success, cruising into releasing a new collection of songs straight after her win on the season 2 premiere of NBC’s Songland.

The week of her music release kicked off in a big way as her song “Champagne Night” was chosen and recorded by the show’s artist guest, Lady Antebellum, who then decided to release the tune to country radio. “As a writer, you dream of that moment that an artist or a band, you admire, sings a song that you wrote,” Merlo tells Sounds Like Nashville. “It’s so crazy to hear their beautiful voices and harmonies on it and to hear what they did with it, sonically, as well.”

Originally titled, “I’ll Drink to That,” Merlo intended to cut the track for herself. Once hearing the country trio’s feedback, the songstress described the creative process that followed. “To be standing there and hearing their input in that moment, the song was meant for them.” 

The performer was then paired with series’ songwriter mentor and country hitmaker, Shane McAnally, to further tweak the lyrics and arrangement. Merlo stated, “We worked on those together … to make it a Lady A song.” 

The co-write with McAnally was a dream come true for Merlo, who said, “He is a hero of mine. The work he has done in this town [with] Sam Hunt, Brothers Osborne, and Kacey Musgraves … is out of the box [type] stuff.” The young songwriter even carries a keychain with McAnally’s photo on her keys. She jokingly explained, “Shane was an artist back in the 90s, and I’m not lying that he’s my favorite songwriter. I’ve had this keychain of [his old photo] on my keys for the last eight months. I’ve brought it to every [co-write]. I was like, ‘I am going to write one with him one day.’” 

Today (4/24), the Vancouver-native released three new songs, titled “If You Never Broke My Heart,” “It Didn’t,” and the Canadian radio single, “Kiss, Kiss.” Altogether, the trio of tunes have a cyclic romance theme. 

“They are a product of the last two years in Nashville, writing songs every day,” Merlo said. “Having a huge breakup and going through some tough times, I think that’s what makes artists and songwriters special. We apply real life to our music … these three [songs] were the most honest.”

Merlo will be performing the new music, including “Champagne Night,” at her show stops in Canada this summer. She added, “I’m hoping to ink a deal [in the U.S.] and will be able to get on the road and start playing some shows in the states as well.”

Find more information on Merlo by visiting madelinemerlo.com.