Listen to Madeline Kenney cover “Woman Here” by Ada Lea

The FADER’s transgender charity covers compilation FADER & Friends Volume 1 is out now, available exclusively on Bandcamp until December 1, 2023. 100% of the proceeds go towards the Transgender Law Center, Mermaids, and Rainbow Railroad. Throughout the month of November, we’re speaking to the artists who contributed to the 44-song collection about the songs they covered.

"Woman, Here" by Montreal singer-songwriter Ada Lea is a heartbreaking indie pop ballad about how gender can determine whether or not society allows you to be happy. That mood is maintained in the cover from Oakland's Madeline Kenney, who adopts an Annie Lennox-adjacent, downbeat synth-pop mode. The ache is still raw, but its surroundings are ever so slightly more plush.

Listen to the song below and buy the full album on Bandcamp. Scroll down to read Madeline Kenney on the original song and her cover.

What's your first memory of this song?

I got really obsessed with Ada Lea’s album What We Say in Private that came out in 2019, and I think we were in the throes of the early pandemic when her EP woman, here came out. Obviously, we were all very unmoored but I remember listening to that EP and working on quilts all day and it made me feel grounded and connected to creativity despite everything happening.

Why did you decide to record it as your cover?

I’ve been wanting to cover one of her songs for a long time, and really just needed the reason to go through with it and do it. I have been revisiting that EP lately as I go through some moments of personal growth and the songs still really resonate.

What does this song/band mean to you personally?

I am really inspired by how absolutely true to herself Ada Lea is, both as a musical artist and a painter. I just really admire her work ethic and bravery in songwriting and composition.