Madds Buckley Releases New Single “Concept Without Proof”
October 24, 2025 BY Emma Orland
Today, singer-songwriter Madds Buckley releases “Concept Without Proof,” her latest track that blends musical theater grandiosity with early ’00s pop-rock charm. “Concept Without Proof” follows “Overboard,” released in August, marking Buckley’s Nettwerk debut.
Listen to “Concept Without Proof”:
https://maddsbuckley.ffm.to/conceptwithoutproof
“The crumpling of paper, scribbling of pen, and the drumming of morse code outline the feeling of a finished draft for ‘Concept Without Proof,’” explains Madds. “What happens to the artist that can’t meet their own expectations? And what happens when ‘proving yourself’ becomes a nonstop comparison to past success? ‘Concept Without Proof’ is frustratingly vulnerable to me: covering burnout, uncertainty, disappointment, frustration, and a writer’s block with no end in sight.”
With production from her longtime collaborator Josh Sebek alongside Taylor Dubray (“Overboard”) and Chris Donlin (“Concept Without Proof”), Buckley’s new music is her most ambitious work yet: genre-blending soundscapes mixed with lyricism that continues to blur the lines between pop-culture influences like the cult classic anime Serial Experiments Lain and real-life experiences – wrapped up with her trademark theatricality and a few new musical tricks.
In addition to new music, Madds has announced a limited run of shows in the Midwest with support from Brye, kicking off January 18th at Chicago’s Cobra Lounge, followed by shows in Cudahy, WI, Newark, OH, and concluding in Minneapolis at 7th Street Entry. For tickets and more information, visit https://maddsbuckley.com/pages/tour.
Tour Dates:
Jan 18 – Chicago, IL @ Cobra Lounge*
Jan 20 – Cudahy, WI @ X-Ray Arcade*
Jan 22 – Newark, OH @ The Midland Theatre
Jan 24 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry*
* Support from Brye
Her breakthrough single, the My Hero Academia-inspired “The Red Means I Love You,” became an inescapable hit in 2021, launching a viral TikTok trend and sending her debut LP, Sunset On Summerville, skyrocketing on streaming. Today, the song boasts RIAA Gold certification and hundreds of millions of plays – an early standout that introduced listeners to her lyrical vulnerability and emotional depth: inspired by the fictional and fantastical but ultimately rooted in heart-on-sleeve authenticity.
About Madds Buckley:
In an increasingly artificial world, 25-year-old singer-songwriter Madds Buckley stands out for her raw humanity. Raised in Chicagoland, based in Nashville, and shaped by her time at Berklee, Buckley has built a global following through her unmistakable honesty and introspective storytelling. As she works toward her label debut, Madds turns her focus to the fractured relationship between humanity and technology—juxtaposing DNA with lines of code to ask what’s innate, what can be reprogrammed, and what ultimately defines us: the body, the brain, or the soul.
