Juliana Madrid Releases 'Pixelated' From 'Afterlife' Ep

The 22 year-old Dallas, Texas born Juliana Madrid releases “Pixelated” from her upcoming sophomore Afterlife EP to be released on Neon Gold Records. After releasing “Trackstar”, co-written with GRAMMY-nominated talents Benjamin Ruttner (of The Knocks), and Matthew Koma (Zedd, Carly Rae Jepsen, Shania Twain etc), she’s now sharing “Pixelated.”

Madridelaborates: "Pixelated is about being stuck in your head. It can be really hard sometimes to get the bigger picture of what’s going on in your life when you’re so zoomed in on a million tiny details. Also in this song I think vocally the style may be different from any of my other songs, like the staccato note length in each chorus.

I think it helps to convey this overwhelming feeling of chaos that can be a product of being alone with your thoughts and your mind racing." Juliana wrote “Pixelated” with Benjamin Ruttner (of The Knocks), Martina Sorbara (aka Dragonette), Ross Clark, Joe Boston (aka Shallou).

After releasing her self-titled debut EP on Neon Gold Records in 2022, she returned this year with a more expansive, deeper sound on “Afterlife”, with lyrics “Hey! I’m not great but I might be alright. So kiss my perfect afterlife goodbye”. 

Juliana combines elements of folk, alt, and pop to write sardonic, coming-of-age tales that are relatable yet uniquely her. Madrid started in music at the young age of 9, learning guitar at the encouragement of her parents.  Soon after, she enrolled in a local program called School of Rock. There, she began to find her voice while realizing she also had a knack for songwriting, using music as a creative outlet to express herself. 

Since then, Juliana and her guitar [which she named “Earl”] have been inseparable, working tirelessly to refine her craft. In August of 2022, she released her self-titled EP. Written by Juliana and produced by GRAMMY-nominated artist Benjamin Ruttner [of The Knocks], the EP explores themes of relationships, religion, and the existentialist feeling associated with growing up.

With additional instrumentation from the likes of Griffin Goldsmith [Dawes] and Matt Chamberlain [David Bowie, Pearl Jam], the EP received critical praise from the likes of UPROXX, V Magazine, and The Line of Best Fit. Gorilla vs. Bear listed it as one of the best EP’s of 2022. Additionally, the lead single, “Pretend” was featured in the hit Netflix movie “Do Revenge,” resulting in more than 20k Shazams in one week.

Juliana toured North America supporting The Knocks and indie band Cannons. She has also graced the stage with Anna Shoemaker, Metric, Matt Maeson, and Joe P,and will share the All Things Go Festival stage with Lana Del Rey, boygenius etc on October 1st @ Merriweather Post Pavilion. Juliana is set to release her sophomore EP on August 11th.