The track is the artist’s first new single since rebranding to her real name from Bonded Jacky.
Having made a name for herself as an exciting emerging artist under the name Bonded Jacky, Maddie Ballard has decided to marry her musical endeavours with her comedy and various other things that she does by doing everything under her real name. So basically, if you liked Bonded Jacky then you also like Maddie Ballard because they’re the same person.
The artist’s first release that coincide with this name change is new single ‘Ojai’, a typically narrative-heavy and captivating new release that continues to showcase the distinctive charm and charisma that Maddie possesses in abundance. ‘Ojai’ finds the queer artist eavesdropping on a group of straight women in a bar and yearning for the kind of simplistic, gossipy, surface-level relationships that they represent. As always, the artist’s uniquely humorous narrative voice and engrossing sound steal the show here, but there is something deeper to the track, surrounding the difficulty that we can have as adults to make friends and our aspirations to be able to blend in to different environments and feel acceptance. Maddie Ballard’s work will always stand out thanks to her guile and creativity and charm, but it is the more profound, hidden aspects that you really carry around with you long after your listen.
