On her second record "Scorpio," singer-songwriter Madison McFerrin is embracing growth, and self-appreciation. It's an album she made after a painful breakup, and according to McFerrin it's her best music yet.
"It's a breakup album, and it was very much instrumental in my healing process and my fully understanding what I had just gone through," she told WUNC. "I'm still grappling with that and unpacking it, but I know without a shadow of a doubt that this music made it so I could release what I was experiencing in that moment."
McFerrin is on tour now and will be stopping by Missy Lane's Assembly Room in Durham on Friday.
On the new record she continues to embrace her incredible voice by creating layers and loops over both ballads and dance tracks. As the title implies, she has also been embracing astrology lately.
"I found out in the process of making this album that I'm a Scorpio stellium, which means you have three or more planets in Scorpio," she said. "So I have my Sun, Mars, and Pluto in Scorpio, which just means I'm extra Scorpio."
2025 has been a busy year for McFerrin in general. Besides releasing "Scorpio" she also made her Tiny Desk debut and also appears on Tyler, The Creator's latest album "Don't Tap The Glass."
"He's a really cool dude. He's exactly who you think he is, and I mean that in the best way possible," she said. "He's a very secretive person, so when he invited me into the studio I didn't really know what was going to come of it, and I didn't know the song was going to be on the record until like 10 p.m. the night before it dropped."
For her show at Missy Lane's, McFerrin will have most of the band that joined her during her Tiny Desk performance. She told WUNC that people can expect to dance, laugh, and have a good time at the show.
"My goal as an artist and performer is to ensure that the audience walks away feeling better than they did when they walked in," she said. "That's all I aim for, and I know that's what will happen."
