The album “Start Here,” released by Maddie & Tae gained national recognition for both the singers’ talent as well as raising awareness about different issues in today’s society. These young artists brought a fresh face into the music industry with the debut of their album. While the artistic talent and the themes behind the songs was a great part of the success of the album, there are some other factors that can be improved upon to advance their progress.

Through their songs, Maddie & Tae aim to represent the struggles facing not only them, but also their fans. “Music lets people pour out their hearts and be vulnerable…It’s hard to drop your guard, but somehow music makes it safe. If we give every person in the audience a voice, we let them know they’re not alone in these situations,” Maddie said.

The union of two uniquely sounding voices is evident throughout the album. Maddie’s voice, which is characterized by the higher of  the two octaves in their duets, is balanced out with Tae’s voice, ultimately creating a full, resonating sound. Throughout the songs, both artists have great vocal ranges, allowing the music to fluently flow from one verse to the next. This harmony is attributed to, according to Maddie,  Maddie & Tae’s long partnership in the music industry.

    Maddie said, “We like singing in two parts. Tae and I understand the harmonics so well and each other’s styles. People don’t realize how tricky it is, but when you pull it off, it’s the most fun kind of singing there is.”

    Although this ‘balance’ of the two voices add to the listener’s pleasure, we wished to hear more of Tae’s voice in multiple songs throughout the album including, “Downside of Growing Up” and “Waitin’ on a Plane.” In the latter of these songs, Maddie sings the majority of the solos, while Tae is usually heard singing in unison with Maddie. Because Tae’s voice is essential to the overall sound, it would be preferred if she sang more individually.

    The songs in this album deviate from the traditional, stereotypical meanings usually presented in country songs. This album provides a fresh sound to the conventional ways that artists use to present the underlying meanings to their songs. The lyrics in their song, “Waitin’ on a Plane,” conveys a gender role reversal in which Maddie & Tae subjected the portrayal of women in country songs. The song was originally released to counter the ideals behind “Bro Country,” a form of country music that revolves around societal-influenced culture, which tends to degrade the mortality of women. This shift away from the general views of women is an effective step in furthering the perspective of females in country music, but also raising awareness of this issue in our world today.

    “Boys, we love you, we want to look good, but it’s not all we’re good for. We are girls with something to say. We were brought up to know how we should be treated,” Maddie said.

    Despite the admirable nature of the sound as well as the meanings behind the song, we found the verses to be a bit repetitive. While the listener expects a new variation of the rhythm, the redundancy throughout a few songs hinders this from occurring.

Overall, while “Start Here” does have its strong suits, there are also some aspects that could be further improved upon. The album exceeded our expectation in that, generally, country music is centered around trucks, tailgating and objectifying women. Maddie & Tae’s stray from classic forms of  country music helps to provide an additional dimension on what country music entails. While country music does not tailor to everyone’s taste, this album serves as a gateway to this genre of music, hence, it is an album that no one will want to miss out on.

    “We (Maddie & Tae) are Country,” Maddie said. “We love all music, but we’re girls from where Country comes from. It’s who we are; it’s how we live. And that’s the music we want to make. It makes us happy, but like what we write about, it’s also who we are.”