Kira Leadholm, now known as Madame Reaper, underwent a transformative shift in her career just four years ago. While backstage at Lollapalooza covering the event as a journalist, she had a revelation: she wanted to be onstage, not behind the scenes.
This insight led her to delve deeper into her music career. Since then, Madame Reaper has emerged with a potent blend of gothic synthpop, highlighted in her latest album, “This is an album because the industry says it’s not,” released in April.
Leadholm attributes her journalistic experience as a critical component in shaping her music, allowing her to tackle local, national, and global issues through her songwriting. She emphasizes that this activist undercurrent is a defining feature of her artistic vision.
Despite stepping away from journalism a few years back, Leadholm reflects on the dismal state of the industry. She notes that her friends still working as journalists face paltry wages, demanding hours, and immense pressure while navigating a landscape dominated by billionaire ownership and misinformation spread via social media platforms. Leadholm believes that this reality is widely recognized, yet insufficiently addressed in terms of urgency for change.
Madame Reaper’s music brims with urgency, echoing through the ten tracks of her recent record. Each song pulses with themes linked to contemporary societal issues. As she transitions her moniker away from the past—indicative of a group dynamic—she embraces the solo act of Madame Reaper while still performing with different musicians based on availability. This shift seeks to streamline her identity as an artist.
Reflecting on her development before the release of her self-titled debut in 2023, Leadholm shares her approach to distinguishing her stage persona from her personal life. This separation enhances her performance quality and preserves her privacy. She elaborates on her creative process for building the Madame Reaper character, noting the importance of character development informed by imaginative questions.
Musically, Madame Reaper draws inspiration from the 1980s synthpop genre, giving her creations a unique edge. She playfully refers to her sound as “vampire synthpop,” highlighting influences that span across decades. Notably, she acknowledges a variety of inspirations, from 1960s girl groups to 1970s disco, indicating that while her songs might resonate with the sound of ABBA, her debut conveyed more of a 1960s vibe.
Leadholm’s writing process often collaborates with her partner, guitarist Kevin Sheppard; however, she solely composes the lyrics. Her journalistic background deeply informs her writing, which features storytelling elements, characters, and narratives woven into the fabric of her songs.
When asked about politically charged songs on her second record, she asserts that most of them tackle various aspects of capitalism. Songs like “Feast” challenge traditional gender roles, while “Falling apart again” captures the emotional turmoil stemming from societal issues. In “Dauphine,” she draws an analogy between modern class struggles and the French Revolution, expressing discontent with power dynamics.
Among the tracks, “Utopia” stands out as the most explicitly political song, crafted during a summer when Chicago faced devastating air quality due to wildfires. Here, Leadholm channels her frustrations into a melody that critiques the contradictions between the idealistic narrative of American life and the lived reality.
Excited about the upcoming music video for “Utopia,” she describes it as a campy, dramatized portrayal of political power, reflective of her journey from journalism into music. Directed by her roommate Shawn, the video promises to feature whimsical visual elements—aliens, tornadoes, and murderers—adding layers of abstraction to her commentary on power and media.
The album concludes on a hopeful note with “Take My Hand,” which was among the first songs she wrote for the record. After reworking the song with input from Sheppard, she takes pride in its evolution and places it at the end of the album to convey optimism amid a generally bleak collection of songs.
Despite darker themes prevalent in much of her music, Madame Reaper’s tracks provide a dynamic listening experience, infused with energy that invites engagement rather than despair.
Having recently returned from a European tour and performed at The Burlington, she is eagerly collaborating with Jon Freund of Pixel Grip to produce her next album. Leadholm’s evolution from journalism to a musical activist through Madame Reaper is a testament to her commitment to using art as a medium for social commentary.
image source from：music
