Madi Diaz just dropped “Heavy Metal,” the newest track off her upcoming album Fatal Optimist, out October 10 via ANTI-.
🎥 Watch the “Heavy Metal” visualiser now.
The Nashville singer-songwriter is no stranger to gut-punch lyricism, but this one cuts especially deep. Minimal and raw, the song flips a common phrase into a survival mantra: her heart isn’t fragile like gold or silver — it’s heavy metal. Built to take the hit.
“I really wanted to write a song that feels as hardcore as I am,” Diaz says. “I am emotionally heavy metal, but everything comes out soft.”
The visualiser, directed by Allister Ann, keeps it stark and simple, letting the song’s bruised honesty lead.
Diaz has been on a steady rise since her 2021 breakthrough History of a Feeling, a breakup record that won her a loyal following. Her 2024 album Weird Faith scored two Grammy nominations and proved she could go big. Now she’s going even deeper by stripping it all back.
Fatal Optimist was co-produced with Gabe Wax (Soccer Mommy, Zach Bryan) at Infinite Family Studio. It’s Diaz solo with her guitar, leaning into silence as much as sound — a reflection of the solitude she embraced after ending a relationship she thought would last forever.
“It was the first time in my career that I stayed in this heavy place with the songs after leaving the studio rather than trying to escape it,” she explains.
The title itself captures Diaz’s mindset: fatal optimism is the reckless hope that love is worth it, even when you know it might wreck you.
Fatal Optimist Tracklist
Hope Less
Ambivalence
Feel Something
Good Liar
Lone Wolf
Heavy Metal
If Time Does What It’s Supposed To
Flirting
Why’d You Have To Bring Me Flowers
Time Difference
Fatal Optimist
💿 Fatal Optimist drops October 10.
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