With today’s country music growing increasingly repetitive and prejudiced, duo Madison Marlow and Taylor Dye are looking to mix things up with their debut album, Start Here.

The album features 11 tracks, ranging from edgy songs attacking country boys to sad songs with a strong message.

The most popular song the duo has released is “Girl in a Country Song,” which questions the idea of the typical country girl that male country singers describe. They send a strong feminist message in the song, teaching girls that the way women are depicted in country songs is not okay. The song is very fun and is a personal favorite of mine from the album.

Another of their songs, “Fly,” also conveys an important lesson. The song is meant to teach people to not give up, saying, “Keep on climbing, though the ground might shake / Just keep on reaching though the limb might break.”

In addition to “Fly,” the album features other songs with a similar tone such as “Smoke,” “No Place Like You,” and “Right Here, Right Now.”

The song “Sierra” is another notable song, pointed toward a bully that Maddie had dealt with in her high school years. The song has an important meaning; however, for the message it was meant to send, the lyrics could have been stronger.

The album finished off with tracks 10 and 11, “Downside of Growing Up” and “After the Storm Blows Through,” two nostalgic songs with a dramatic tone.

Overall, the album is creative and fun, featuring songs that are a somewhat new idea and could potentially change country music in the future. Maddie and Tae are quickly rising to fame, and they deserve it with such a powerful first album.