Ripening the Vine with Madeline Leman’s Full-Length Record

Celebrated Melbourne songwriter Madeline Leman returns with her highly anticipated sophomore album, Ripen on the Vine. Marking her first record released under her own name, the album is a beautifully rich collection of alt-country and indie folk tracks that deftly navigate the terrains of longing, disillusionment, motherhood, and profound personal change.

Following the success of her 2019 debut Nobody’s Fool (celebrated on Triple R FMs ‘Soundscape’ and heavily rotated on ABC Country), Ripen on the Vine represents a striking sonic evolution. Partially birthed from the keys of a piano gifted to her for her 30th birthday, the album captures a seasoned musical maturity.

"This album is a step closer to the sound I've always been chasing," says Madeline. "It represents a musical maturity that I'm really proud of and a vulnerability that is slightly terrifying but ultimately really powerful.”

To celebrate the release, Madeline Leman and her band will embark on a series of Victorian dates this July and August, including a headline launch at Melbourne's iconic Northcote Social Club and a regional run supporting folk mainstay Leah Senior.

We spoke with Madeline just after the record was released :)

Huge congratulations on Ripen on the Vine debuting at #4 on the ARIA Top 20 Country Charts and #5 on the Australian Indies Charts! How did it feel to see an album that deals with such intimate, vulnerable themes resonate so deeply and so quickly on a national level?

Thank you, it feels really surreal. I’ve never been this vulnerable in my songwriting before. I wrote a lot of these songs when it was unclear if I would ever play for audiences or release music again. Ripen on the Vine and Rewrite the Classics, two of the stripped back songs on the record, were written in my bedroom during the Covid 19 lockdowns - I felt so far away from playing these songs in public that it gave me a lot of creative freedom. I wrote Thriving, Head in the Chords and Baby on Board when I was planning to have a baby and was terrified that it may mean giving up my music career. In the past I think I’ve unknowingly hid behind the conventions of a genre or clever storytelling that I was never actually saying what I really wanted to say. These songs are very real and not hiding behind anything. I think that’s why people have connected with them. 

This is your first record released entirely under your own name, rather than a moniker or band name. Did stepping out under your own identity change your relationship to these songs, or make that chart success feel even more personal?

I wanted to drop the Desert Swells from my original name because the songs on this album felt really personal and the Country convention of Madeline Leman and the Desert Swells didn’t fit with the mood/vibe of the album. I also just felt like I needed a refresh. However I still very much attribute the success of the album to my band and share it with them. My bass player, Alex Bleakley aka Sal Wonder, has been with me since the very beginning, my drummer is my brother in law and Ruby Jones has been with me for about 7 years. They are all family. However the fact that the songs are really personal, quite a few are just me and the piano, does feel special.

You’ve made the bold and principled decision to remove your music from Spotify. Can you take us through the turning point that led to this choice, and what the streaming landscape looks like right now from the perspective of an independent Australian artist?

I’ve been fed up with Spotify for years. But it was their CEO Daniel Eck’s investment of 700 million USD into the AI military tech start-up Helsing that pushed me over the edge. I was feeling helpless and heartbroken over the state of the world and this felt like an opportunity to do something, albeit small. I was also reading Liz Pelly’s book Mood Machine which lays out how Spotify is intentionally ripping off musicians, doing shady deals with major labels, and destroying grass roots music scenes.So the streaming landscape is pretty bleak for indie artists at the moment. Spotify is rigged to support the major labels (who own 18% of it) and crush indie artists. And now they are flooding the platform with AI tracks and pushing them to the top of the algorithm so they don’t have to pay royalties to real artists. It’s disgusting. But the fact that mine and Leah Senior’s new albums debuted in the Aria charts without Spotify makes me really hopeful that there is another way. And that we don’t have to compromise our values to be successful. 

How has the response been from your community and fan base since making that move, and how are you encouraging people to consume and support your music instead? 

The response has been really motivating. My fans and community just got it. My post about leaving Spotify was shared really widely and gained a lot of new followers who really care about independent music. When I asked people to buy my record instead of just streaming it, people did it, and that’s why it’s been in the top 20 Country Aria charts for two weeks. I actually don’t know if it would have charted had I kept my music on Spotify. It really made me think differently about how I value my music and how I want people to engage with it. I don’t mind if people stream the album via a more ethical streamer like Tidal, but I’ve asked people to also buy an $8 digital download to reflect what the music is actually worth. It’s a bit awkward talking about money, it’s not very rock n roll- but I think people see how much musicians are struggling. I’ve made more money from this release than I have in the whole 10 years my music has been on streaming. It still doesn’t come close to breaking even - so it’s really not about the money for me. But it’s about valuing art and the role that music plays in our lives.

You’ve described the opening track, ‘Baby On Board (Baby I’m Bored)’, as exploring the "maze of motherhood" and the struggle to maintain a creative life. How has becoming a mother shifted your relationship to your art, your time, and your writing process?

Having a baby has made my art even more vital. It’s cliche but it has helped me to find myself after absolutely losing myself to motherhood. I feel really grateful to have music as a way to reconnect to my prebaby self and also help me to carve out my new identity as a mother and an artist. I feel way more creative generally, I feel way more willing to have a go at things and make mistakes whereas before I was such a perfectionist and that held me back a lot. Motherhood has put my art and music making into perspective. It is so vital to my happiness and yet if things go wrong I don’t sweat it like I used to. My baby was quite sick in hospital for about 9 months and once you have gone through something like that nothing else really matters. I mean my art will always matter but now I don’t feel like I’m at the mercy of my successes and failures. I feel free for the first time and funnily enough I’m having the most success and fun I’ve ever had. Also Gene loves music and is my biggest fan. He learns all my new songs as I’m writing them and sings them around the house. He has a good set of pipes! It’s pure joy seeing him love music the way I do.

You’ve mentioned that this album represents a vulnerability that is "slightly terrifying but ultimately really powerful." Was there a specific song on the tracklist that felt the most terrifying to write or release into the world?

Thriving and Rewrite the classics are both songs that I felt sick at the thought of releasing. Thriving I wrote at a really low point. I felt this deep sense of failure and it was kind of embarrassing to admit. I felt that in my 30s I should have had more figured out. Then I looked around and decided that it was probably a universal feeling. For Rewrite the Classics I had to be convinced to use the take we did. We originally recorded it when I was pregnant and I wanted it to sound kind of like Aldous Harding. I was putting a lot of affect on my voice which at the time I thought sounded cool. But when going back into the studio after Gene was born, Leah (Senior) gently suggested that I also rerecord it, singing it a little straighter to really connect with the emotion of the song. I took her note and ended up crying through the end of a take. I think I was finally allowing myself to really feel the meaning of the song - which I wrote after the 2019 bushfires when for the first time summer had this really sinister feeling. I felt so devastated that my son wouldn’t experience the carefree summers that I did as a kid. When I finished playing I was about to be like ‘ok well that was not it’ and then I looked around and Leah and Jesse were both in tears smiling at me. They were like ‘that was it!’ We went back and forth on it for months and finally they convinced me to use it. That song is really sad. There is no way around it. The final take feels really honest in a way that the first take didn’t. I’m glad we kept it but I still can’t listen to it!

The visual identity of this album is so distinct—from the Super 8 footage of your parents in the 1970s for 'Steeple Mountain Dream' to the Super 16mm film for 'Famously Fragile'. How important is visual storytelling and nostalgia to the way you present your music? 

I’m an aesthetic person. How something looks affects how I feel. I always want my visual storytelling to feel like me. I love playing with nostalgia and obviously my music draws inspiration from the 1960s and 70s. But I never want my visuals or my music to feel like pastiche. I sing about modern issues, I’m very aware that the social and sexual politics of those decades are not something we want to return to. I always want my music to feel like it is representing the time in which it was written, even if it is borrowing some of the magic from the past. On a simpler level the fashion of those eras is definitely something I always want to return to. I love op shopping. It may be my best life skill. All the outfits and props for my Baby on Board clip I sourced from country op shops. Famously Fragile was definitely inspired by my love of old Country music and the footage of my parents in Steeple Mountain just absolutely broke me when I saw it. There was something kind of magical but also heart breaking about seeing my parents younger than I am now. Time moves so quickly it’s scary. I guess that’s why it’s fun to connect with the past through aesthetics. 

You have a massive Melbourne album launch coming up on Sunday, July 26th at the iconic Northcote Social Club alongside Girlatones. What does it mean to you to bring these specific, deeply personal songs to life on a Melbourne stage?

I love playing live and Melbourne is my home town. I grew up 5 minutes from the Northcote Social Club so it feels really special. It’s a venue I haven’t actually played before. I know people say it’s the best stage in the city, so I’m nervous but excited. I’m also excited to play for my friends and family who have supported me to get to this point. There was definitely a time after having my baby that I thought my music career was kind of over. Or I had passed my prime. So to be playing in such an iconic venue means a lot. And the early bird tickets have already sold out - so that’s exciting. 

Alongside your headline dates, you’re also doing a regional run supporting folk mainstay Leah Senior. How do you adapt your energy between playing a headline room in the city and playing more intimate regional spaces like Martians Saloon or Mozart Hall?

Haha I don’t think I do adapt. I’ve been known to play my song Diva with the Fever of Change, my feminist spoken word rant, on the smallest of stages. I say play your best songs and play them well and you can’t go wrong. Mind you this set will be a little more intimate just because of the nature of the album. I’m really excited to be playing with Leah as she’s my best mate and has been such a huge support to me over the years and especially in getting this album out. We’ve got a little surprise that we’ll do together at the Martians and the Social Club show, which will be really special. Singing with Leah is my happy place. Her new album Pt Roadknight is so beautiful. I’m forever inspired by her songwriting and her sound has definitely been an influence on this album. 

Any last thoughts for our readers?

If you have a friend in your life who is trying to get back into their art after having a baby, support them as much as you can. It is one of the hardest things I’ve done. The world doesn’t always want mothers to express themselves honestly. But we need more art about the maternal experience as it is something everyone has a connection to.