Yes, Madison Bailey Sings. And Yes, There Will Be An Album.

Madison Bailey has had a busy few months. In between promoting the fourth season of Outer Banks, which dropped on Netflix in two parts in October and November, the 25-year-old has been quietly pouring herself into a new creative outlet: her own original music. “This project has been about a year in development,” she tells NYLON in her first-ever interview talking solely about her artistry. “I've been singing my entire life, but the writing and creation process is pretty new to me.”

Earlier in the fall, Bailey released her debut single “The Grey” with Republic Records, an acoustic track about getting comfortable with the in-betweens of life. She follows it up on Dec. 6 with “Honestly,” a darker, moodier song inspired by the heaviness of the news cycle in recent years.

Bailey describes her sound as a “blend of Kacey Musgraves and SZA” and points to Mariah the Scientist’s description of “alternative and blues” as the genre she inhabits. “I grew up listening to a little bit of everything: jazz, country, and rock,” she says, citing Beyoncé and Billie Eilish as inspirations. “My top albums this year on Apple Music were Cowboy Carter and Hit Me Hard and Soft.”

While there’s no timeline for an album (yet) — she’ll likely start filming the final season of OBX in the coming months — Bailey is eager for fans to hear what she’s been working on. Here, she talks about the creative process behind these songs and whether she’d ever go on tour.

Your musicianship is something a lot of people didn't know about until recently. Tell me how you started working on this project.

It came about because I stumbled into a conversation with a friend in the music industry who didn’t realize how passionate I was, and they were like, “You should meet somebody.” That led to me getting into the studio with [co-writers David Charles Fischer, Grant Averill, Marty MARO, and Stephen Elrodother] and playing around to see what came out.

I have a lot of feelings, and sometimes it's intimidating to write them down and be like, "Does this make sense to anyone else? Does it feel like I'm writing my diary, or am I actually writing a good song?" I got to be in a room with people who have done this far longer than me, and be a sponge and receive feedback. I got the validation I needed that it didn’t just sound like a journal. Now it's at the point where I'm sharing these songs with other people. It's freaking crazy, and I'm really excited.

Your first single “The Grey” came out in September. What inspired that one?

We were in the studio talking about life, and I was speaking about how I've felt like I've bounced around and never fit into any category 100%. I've always just floated in the middle, and I wanted to create a song that encapsulated that feeling.

How have you felt about the reception? I love the comments from OBX fans like, “Madison sings?!”

Teasing it on social media was fun. It felt very low pressure to put out a song. I told myself and all my friends, "If even three people listen to it, I'll be OK with that." Now it has over a million streams on Spotify alone, which blows my mind.

It’s interesting that you said it felt low pressure to release it. I would think it would be somewhat scary because you have an audience already.

It was scary to be vulnerable, but I wasn’t expecting anything of it. For me, the passion lies in singing and making the song, so when that part was done, I felt like I had already been fulfilled. Just releasing it was an accomplishment.

And now you have your second single “Honestly.” Your riffs in this song are amazing.

Thank you. I feel like “The Grey” was a good entry point, and now in “Honestly” I get to show people I’m a singer. It’s a deep song, but it's also very matter-of-fact. It came about in conversation about the pandemic. People like to breeze over that because it's over now, but this is speaking to the feelings of an entire generation that has been disillusioned by the world. There’s more and more on the news constantly. The song describes that feeling of “How much more can I take? Is there anybody to call when everybody needs someone to call?”

You posted a TikTok where you were picking the next single, which made me think there must be more songs in the bank.

There's more.

What can you share about what's coming?

Eventually there will be an album. There's not a date on a calendar, but the material is there. It's about curating what fits on one project and what should be a different thing. I’ve been working on this on and off with acting, and it’s hard to do both at the same time. But I’m in the studio working on it whenever I can fit it in.

There's not a date on a calendar, but the material is there.

I've seen comments on your posts asking for a tour. Would you ever do one?

I know. That's insane. I was just on Live the other day and somebody's like, "When are you going to tour?" Y’all, I have one song out. It's would be the most boring tour of all time. Maybe after there's more music out, that’s something I would explore. I am terrified, but I’m more excited than nervous.

You’re booked and busy with acting projects at the moment: Outer Banks, Time Cut, The Painter. How do you see music fitting into your career in the future?

I'm definitely not in a position right now to choose, but I think it will be a matter of finding time for whichever I'm craving more creatively. As an actor, I have the opportunity to tell really important stories that don't belong to me. As an artist, I get to tell stories from my lens. I rely very heavily on vibes and intuition, and I trust that my gut will tell me what’s right.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.