Madi Diaz
is no stranger to exploring the personal in her songwriting, and the act of processing emotions has always taken a lead role on her albums. Recorded with
Andrew Sarlo
, her fifth full-length, 2021's
History of a Feeling
, offered her rawest material yet, leading to television debuts and high-profile tours with artists including
Harry Styles
and
Angel Olsen
. On the follow-up,
Weird Faith
,
Diaz
not only continues to stare down complex feelings but shines a blue light on the dark underbelly of love, where the flaws, compromises, and insecurities lie. Recorded this time with
Sam Cohen
(
Kevin Morby
Emily King
) and
Konrad Snyder
Noah Kahan
Stephen Sanchez
), the album opens with the blunt and melancholy "Same Risk," in which she questions whether a new partner will carry their weight with lines like "Do you think this could ruin your life?/Cause I could see it ruining mine." That song also features a big, cellphone-flashlight-waving singalong chorus, something
delivers many times over on
. Among the many earnest earworms here (the cringier "KFM" notwithstanding) are songs like "God Person" ("I'm not a god person/But I'm never not searchin'") and "Don't Do Me Good," an early single featuring her friend
Kacey Musgraves
. Mournful but defiant, the latter song makes catchy country-rock of tough sentiments like "Every time I wake up crying/I'm denying what I should/I know loving you/It don't do me good." Consisting mostly of similarly midtempo ballads and relationship obits, quasi-outliers include the spare, tender title track, in which she decides to try to stay ("I'm gonna have a heart of gold/And I'm gonna have weird faith"), and a pair of relative rockers in "Everything Almost" and the cathartic closer, "Obsessive Thoughts," which would have made a fitting album title. ~ Marcy Donelson