Maddie Zahm has spent the last few years building a reputation as one of pop music’s most brutally honest songwriters. But if fans think her upcoming album is about finally having everything figured out, Zahm says they’ve missed the point.
The singer-songwriter is preparing to release her sophomore album, Everything All The Time, on Sept. 25, and the project embraces something many people spend years trying to avoid: the realization that growth never really ends.
Alongside the album announcement, Zahm released the title track, “Everything All The Time,” which sets the tone for a record focused less on finding answers and more on learning to live with the questions.
Reflecting on her artistic journey, Zahm notes that if the version of herself that wrote “Fat Funny Friend” were to sit down with the artist who created this new record, they would likely argue about her tendency to overshare. She admits that while opening up provides immediate relief, it often brings the anxiety of wondering if she has shared too much with the wrong people.
Growth, she explains, is not a finish line. When asked about a lesson she thought she had mastered that keeps reappearing, Zahm points to her struggle with self-parenting. She often finds herself ruminating on past mistakes rather than simply accepting that some things do not work out, noting that she sometimes feels the need to create a twelve-step plan for character improvement instead of just moving forward.
Despite the heavy themes in her music, Zahm is quick to dispel the notion that she is a “deeply serious trauma dumper.” In her personal life, she prefers to spend time goofing off or playing TopGolf. She acknowledges that she sometimes struggles with intimacy because she feels a stronger connection through humor and lightness.
When asked what a listener would find if they could walk into the physical space of Everything All The Time, she envisions a collection of favorite childhood TV shows, trinkets, and comfort food. Addressing the tension between the internet’s demand for certainty and her own songwriting, which thrives in the gray areas, Zahm remains optimistic. “I used to love straight lines, but now I prefer squiggles,” she says. “They’re prettier anyway.”
Everything All The Time arrives Sept. 25 via MNRK Nashville. To celebrate the release, Zahm will head overseas for dates in the U.K. and Amsterdam before launching a U.S. headlining tour this fall.