I often get emails from artists and businesses (who clearly haven’t read the blog) asking for promotion. But recently I was surprised by a heartfelt personal note from a lovely young woman, sharing her music with me.

I confess, I thought “Oh no…this girl is such a sweetheart…what am I going to say if the music is terrible?”

But guess what? Madison Chase belongs on SWS (and in anyone’s collection of dark cabaret for that matter)! If I were to have an automatic piece of music playing when my blog page opens, this would be quite appropriate:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJLWltO2woU

Her songs are a soundtrack for eying shelves of broken dolls in a forgotten antique store, or for the greatest tea party…in hell. These are the lullabies discarded toys sweetly sing to each other through cracked lips.

Well, that’s my version. But here’s the official word:

Madison Chase is a North Carolina based musician. Her genre has been referred to as Creepy Pop, Circus Pop, and Chamber Pop and draws influence from classical, pop, industrial and jazz. Madison plays a variety of instruments and began studying piano at the age of six, and by twelve she had moved her focus to cello.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3EObi6Wj7M

When you listen, take note of the fact that most of these songs came out when Madison was only *14*. I only wish I had been this cool at 14. I was still (begrudgingly) wearing clothes my mom picked out, trying to convince my friends to see horror movies, and staying up late to watch 120 Minutes and Headbangers Ball on MTV (they still played music back then. Yes, I’m that old).

Go check out the rest of her music HERE.