Maddie & Tae - Love & Light (2025)

It's been just over a decade since Maddie (Font) and Tae (Kerr) blasted into Nashville with their first single, "Girl In a Country Song," a perfectly timed clapback against the bro-country era. Such a big, statement-making number could've overshadowed everything else they've done and rendered them one-hit wonders. But the duo have continued to grow and experiment, playing with jazzy neo-soul and thoughtful ballads on 2020's The Way It Feels, while preserving the confidence and catchiness of their debut—even as they understand their audience doesn't want them to reinvent too much. For their third proper album, Kerr has said, the two (both now wives and moms) took cues from the crowds of young women at their concerts. "We realized people are hungry for songs that tell it like it is about being single, being done wrong, being done right, and figuring out how to grow up without losing your sense of self, your friends or your dreams. So, we leaned into all those things." They offer plenty of encouragement to keep playing the field on "Kissing Cowboys"—boogie-woogie country with an explosive chorus. "What a Woman Can Do" is a soft-hearted female-empowerment ballad. You've got songs called "Drunk Girls in Bathrooms" (a glam spritzer kissed with diva falsetto), "Chasing Babies & Raising Dreams" (ready-made for a Hallmark movie) and "Sad Girl Summer" (as in, "this ain't no sad girl summer"). "Only Jesus" is a catchy kiss-off—think the Chicks circa Home—telling a loser "only Jesus gonna love you like that" and serving up a sassy, winking "amen." "Heart That Didn't Break" is a mid-tempo pedal steel ballad about a friend willing to drive 200 miles and skip class to help you get through a mess. Though they didn't write it, Font and Kerr sing lyrics like "Through the bad and good/ Thank god for friends like that" as if it's a tribute to each other, taking turns on verses so each gets a great moment in the spotlight. Of course, their ridiculously good harmonies are on full display for tracks like the sexy "Fall in Love & Find Out," breezy "One Hit Wonders," anthemic "Down That Road" and retro, twanged-out boot scoot of "Any Kinda Lovin'." But they also try out different ways of working together—finishing each other's sentences, twinning—on "Free Like," a country rocker that sounds like it stomped off from a Lainey Wilson session. The pair seem to have a ball on "Girl in Alabama," a cheeky list song in the vein of "California Girls," about a guy with a "Sweet Georgia peach/ Sugar up in Salt Lake/ Never got lonely in the Lone Star State" before it flips the script: "Hope your girl in Alabama's gonna let you through the door/ 'Cause your girl in Tennessee don't want you no more." It's pretty familiar territory for Maddie & Tae, but they go out with a surprising bang on the title track, loaded up with organ and sax and crisp vocal starts and stops. More, please.

TRACKLIST

1. Maddie & Tae - Fall in Love & Find Out
2. Maddie & Tae - Any Kinda Lovin'
3. Maddie & Tae - One Hit Wonders
4. Maddie & Tae - Heart They Didn't Break
5. Maddie & Tae - Only Jesus
6. Maddie & Tae - Free Like
7. Maddie & Tae - Down That Road
8. Maddie & Tae - Kissing Cowboys
9. Maddie & Tae - Somebody Will
10. Maddie & Tae - Girl in Alabama
11. Maddie & Tae - Ain't Enough
12. Maddie & Tae - What A Woman Can Do
13. Maddie & Tae - Drunk Girls in Bathrooms
14. Maddie & Tae - Chasing Babies & Raising Dreams
15. Maddie & Tae - Sad Girl Summer
16. Maddie & Tae - Love & Light