Recorded: February/March 2013 (San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, California)
Released: 31st March, 2013
Length: 4:11
Genre: Electro-Pop, Emo
Label: Songs To Love And Die By
Writers: Maddie Urie
Producers: Maddie Urie

“Put On A Brave Face” is the debut single from the American electro-pop recording artist ‘Maddie Urie’ and will be taken as the lead single from her upcoming and as-yet-unfinished 2013 debut album. The track was written solely by Maddie Urie some time in December 2012 before the 19 year-old electro-pop musician signed her first ever solo recording contract with ‘Songs To Love And Die By’. The song was recorded throughout February and March 2013 at a small recording studio in Los Angeles, California along with a number of other songs. These songs were all recorded at a recording studio in the San Fernando Valley, approximately only a two minute walk from Maddie Urie’s home in California and the debut track will be released as a single to Airplay and as a Digital Download on 31st March, 2013 under the ‘Songs To Love And Die By’ record label.

This debut solo single is the first official release from Maddie since her previous brief attempts in the music industry back in 2010. Her previous effort at making a career in the music industry was as one-half of a bubble-gum pop duo called ‘Two Equals Three’, that band never really took off almost three years ago despite being part of the Warped Tour and playing alongside the likes of Infinite and Riot! In The Boulevard. But the duo weren’t ever really destined to become the next big thing and quickly decided to end things as Maddie recently stated, “It was never going to be an enjoyable experience for me. The music we were angled towards making was very innocent, we tried to record an album and were given three demo CD’s with almost forty songs on it and we were told to choose twelve songs that we liked. I was never comfortable with the thought of recording other people’s songs and after four weeks of trying to record my vocals the way that they wanted I finally decided that I didn’t want to do it anymore. I had my own stories to tell and I didn’t want to keep being told what songs to record and how I should sing them, so I quit.”

The song opens up with a quiet keyboard introduction and is quickly followed by the opening lines of the first verse of the song. The vocal delivery is sung in a breathy but quirky tone with a slight feeling of sadness and despair in the tone of Maddie’s voice as she delivers the lyrics like self-inflicted wounds. Throughout the majority of the song, the primary instrument is the keyboards, giving the song it’s space-age but tender backdrop that combine with her vocal extremely well. As the song progresses towards the final three verses, the introduction of a stronger sound can be heard alongside the keyboards as an electric guitar riff comes into the picture but it fades into the background as the final verse of the song arrives and the keyboard and vocal combination return to the forefront as Maddie sings “There’s nothing they can say/To change how I feel/God knows that they’ve tried/But I don’t think I’m destined to heal.” and with the final words of the song comes the fading of the keyboards as it ends.

LYRICS

“I wandered towards the edge
Of this blood-stained window ledge
I just stood there balancing
Teetering on the brink of self-destruction once again
Just like every other Friday night
Maybe if I fall
I won’t have to worry about feeling this way anymore
Maybe if I fall
I won’t ever have to worry at all

I put on a brave face
Smear my make-up like it’s war-paint
I dance and I smile
I drink for a little while
I take it all in
And pretend that it’s alright
I’m not looking for a couple hours of joy
Just want to make it through the night

Because if I don’t smile
If I don’t dance
Then I don’t stand a chance
Of making it out of this night alive
If I spend it at home
Drinking alone
I’ll escape to the rooftop
Jump just to feel my heart stop

And that would be okay
That’s what I’ve wanted every single day
Since everyone I loved went away
What difference does it make if I don’t make it through another day
There’s nothing they can say
To change how I feel
God knows that I’ve tried
But I don’t think I’m destined to heal

I’ll put on a brave face
Smear my make-up like it’s war-paint
I dance and I smile
I drink for a little while
And sure enough
This pain goes away
If only for an hour or two
But at least it’s enough to get me through

If I don’t smile
If I don’t dance
Then I don’t stand a chance
Of making it out of this night alive
And that would be okay
That’s what I’ve wanted every single day
Since everyone I loved all went away
What difference does it make if I don’t make it through another day
There’s nothing they can say
To change how I feel
God knows that they’ve tried
But I don’t think I’m destined to heal”

SOUNDS LIKE;
LIGHTS – HEAVY ROPE