CREDITS:
Recorded at the Les Paul Foundation studio with Tom Camuso with additional tracking at Capstone Audio with Aaron Stern
Acoustic Guitar: Malena Cadiz
Guitars: Jason A. Roberts
Bass: Aaron Stern
Background Vocals: Leeann Skoda
Drums & Percussion: Andrew Maguire
Mixing: Tom Camuso & Aaron Stern
Mastering: Shawn Hatfield at Audible Oddities
Cover art: Emily Tayman
FRAGILE / SHOOT THE MOON
Release Date: 8/28/26
Back at the Les Paul Foundation studio (BTS moments below) the band and I recorded this split single.
Fragile
Fragile was inspired by the 1st party after COVID lockdown. I was inspired by the one-sided conversation format of George Strait’s “The Chair,” earnest, humorous and with implied questions and answers from the other person. I remember feeling very vulnerable that night and sensing everyone else might feel the same - our usual social armor was weakened from lack of practice. There was an unrestrained joy at being together and also an awkwardness — do I shake your hand? Do I stand this close? How do I make polite conversation with people I’ve just met?
Shoot the Moon
“If we play our hearts right, can we shoot the moon?”
Shooting the moon is a strategy in the card game of Hearts - you gather all the bad cards, you win. In life that translates to going all-in, fully committing to love, your dreams, the big wins, the painful losses - all of it. The risks are great but the reward is greater.
BTS at the Les Paul Foundation Studio
PRESS:
"Cadiz has a voice that grabs you within seconds." - NPR
"A meandering mix of country and folk that evokes the most isolated areas of the country and the people who call those places home.” - VOGUE
"Lines can be drawn between Cadiz and contemporaries like Sharon Van Etten, Cat Power, or Angel Olsen, but her vocals and songwriting shine with their own luster” - Under the Radar
About Malena:
Michigan born and L.A. based Malena Cadiz is a lady of the canyon waylaid at a suburban strip mall, acutely aware of how romance shines through even in the moments of grit and desolation. There’s something Didion-esque about Cadiz’s storytelling, crafting deeply personal vignettes that reveal greater narratives about the world we live in.
Growing up a second-generation Filipino-American, Cadiz bounced between living in the suburbs of Michigan with her mother and bustling Singapore with her father. “I always felt rootless, not quite belonging to either place.” This longing for home and search for center rests at the heart of Cadiz’s work.
She’s released three studio albums and numerous singles and EPs. Her most recent LP, Hellbent & Moonbound was inspired by Drift, a poem by the 24th U.S. poet laureate, Ada Límon - specifically the phrase “moonbound and hellbent on defying the usual gravity of this spin.” It was produced by Andrew Lappin (L’Rain, Lucy Dacus, Cassandra Jenkins).
Cadiz’s music has been praised by American Songwriter, Vogue, No Depression and The Fader, among others. Under the Radar has likened her work to Catpower and Angel Olsen and NPR compared her to "an earthbound Joanna Newsom, Cadiz has a voice that grabs you within seconds.” In 2025 she was a Kerrville New Folk finalist and has been featured on the Tiny Desk Contest’s Top Shelf. You can hear her songs in film and TV shows such as “Nancy Drew" (CW), "Lucifer" (Netflix), "REBEL" (ABC), among others. She has toured and shared bills with artists such as The Bones of J.R. Jones, Willie Watson, Jess Williamson, Joe Pug, Anna Tivel, The Steel Wheels, Jeffrey Foucault, Anna Ash and Robert Ellis.
Malena is deeply committed to creating community through art. In 2025 she began co-hosting a monthly songwriter series called Virgin Ears and is a co-founder of Glow Big L.A., offering music education and all ages community events in Northeast Los Angeles. Her newest release, a collection of songs recorded on the original Les Paul console with Grammy-winning engineer Tom Camuso is slated for 2026.