Growing up as an introverted and anxious child in Toronto, Maddie Regent has always drawn comfort from music. Getting lost in the melodies brought her peace, while writing lyrics became like diary entries.
Now based in Brooklyn, the “Girl of Your Dreams” singer is continuing to confront her insecurities on her latest release “Sleeptalking.” The shimmering synth-pop track is an encapsulation of “classic self-sabotage” as Maddie desperately searches for reasons to rationalize her unhappiness.
We chatted with the singer-songwriter about “Sleeptalking,” creating music with her partner Cade Hoppe, and what to expect from this next era.
Excerpt from the podcast (edited for clarity)
What was the inspiration for “Sleeptalking”?
It’s interesting because when you make music with your partner – I’m making stuff about past relationships, past experiences, and it’s kind of a unique way to work. And so I think we were kind of just laughing about situations in the past and being with people that you didn’t necessarily feel were right for you, but I’m such a people pleaser that I would stay with people longer than I probably shouldn’t have because I didn’t want to hurt anybody. I was just waiting for people to pick up on it, which is definitely not right. I have worked on that. We were just talking about those experiences and we came up with the line, “I’m sleep talking about a girl in the wild west.” And I don’t know, just like the imagery of like – you just would rather be anywhere else, but sleeping next to this person is just sad.
I love how “Sleeptalking” is kind of a heartbreaking song, but you have this really ethereal synthy sound behind it. What was the decision behind combining those two?
My favorite songs are ones that sound so beautiful and they’re also just something that you want to listen to and cry to, but then also maybe dance to and move to. And I think with this one, again, like that imagery of kind of like dreaming, sleep talking, you know, wanting to be anywhere else, wanting someone to read your mind or like, it just felt very whimsical in a way. So we played that up definitely in the chorus and throughout the song. It’s kind of my favorite way to do some of those really kind of emotional songs, and it’s fun to perform and listen to more.
There are some amazing lines in this song, and one of my favorites is “you can’t pull me in with your arm asleep.” I’m curious if there’s a specific lyric that stands out for you and why it’s a favorite of yours?
I like the line “you’re the stranger in my bed tonight.” It was kind of something that helped draw the story of the song. When we did that in the demo recording, I was like, [goofily sings] “you’re the stranger in my bed tonight.” It was kind of like a joke and we kind of kept a little bit of “the night” in it because just the whole thing is crazy. Like, I’m in a relationship with someone that I am supposed to know really well and care about, but I just cannot match my mind and my heart together. I like that line, and then also the pillow pet line was kind of like the second chorus. “I’m sleep talking my head on the spine of a pillow pet, I haven’t quite had the heart to get rid of it” And that just is very me too. I just am holding on to things and I haven’t dealt with my stuff. So I kind of like that way of explaining that. But the arm asleep one was kind of clever. I’m glad that you like that one.
Listen to the full interview on the latest episode of ECHO – The Podcast.
Featured Photo Credit: Anna Koblish