Today, rising singer/songwriter Madden Metcalf shares his new song “I Don’t Wanna Cry Anymore” — a thrillingly candid anthem of post-breakup limbo, perfectly capturing the messy middle stage between heartbreak and healing. Out now via Wexler Records/MCA, “I Don’t Wanna Cry Anymore” will appear on the 20-year-old Florida native’s debut EP Saltwater Southern (due out March 20). Go here to listen to “I Don’t Wanna Cry Anymore,” and pre-save/pre-add Saltwater Southern here.

Written by Metcalf, Freddy Wexler (a GRAMMY-nominated songwriter/producer known for his work with Laufey, Justin Bieber, and more), and Elliah Heifetz, “I Don’t Wanna Cry Anymore” centers on Metcalf’s warm vocal work, timeless storytelling, and rootsy yet radiant sound — an element shaped by his upbringing in a tiny Gulf Coast fishing town, where his family has lived for generations. Although it’s only his third release to date, the raw and resonant track bears the nuanced perspective of an artist far beyond his years.

“‘I Don't Wanna Cry Anymore’ is such a special song to me because it captures the vulnerability we all feel when things don’t go our way in a relationship, or life in general. I wrote it when I was at my lowest, fed up with feeling like I was completely stuck on a situation I couldn’t change. Writing helped me move through it and I hope this song can give someone else the same comfort it brings me” says Metcalf. “And it’s a banger!”

Produced by Wexler and Paul Sikes, “I Don’t Wanna Cry Anymore” kicks off with a potent collision of sunlit strumming and steadily driving rhythms as Metcalf confesses to his desperate state of mind (“Yeah, it’s killing me / Kinda crazy what you did to me / Tried to drown in all the memories / Since you left me for dead”). At the chorus, impassioned harmonies and pulsing hand percussion amp up the track’s intensity, setting the stage for Metcalf’s heart-on-sleeve outpouring (“I don’t wanna cry anymore / I been yellin’ at the ceiling, I been down on the floor / There’s a demon on my shoulder and he’s sayin’ your name / But I don’t think another bottle’s gonna bury the pain”). In a brilliant contrast to its mood of frustrated fatigue, “I Don’t Wanna Cry Anymore” takes on an electrifying momentum at the bridge, providing much-needed catharsis to anyone who feels worn out from all the grieving and obsessing that come with lost love.

As announced last month, MCA and Wexler recently teamed up to officially sign Metcalf following a period of focused development led by Wexler and Madden’s manager Olivia Zaro. Metcalf made his major-label debut in January with “Like My Hometown” – a love song that uses the language of home to describe knowing someone completely. Featuring both “Like My Hometown” and “I Don’t Wanna Cry Anymore,” Saltwater Southern ultimately tells the story of a country upbringing with a coastal twist. The result is a one-of-a-kind project that hovers between Florida and Nashville, shaped by Gulf Coast skies and deep Southern pride.

Hailing from Panacea, Florida (a town with fewer than a thousand residents, referred to by locals as “the Forgotten Coast”), Metcalf grew up on the classic tunes of Johnny Cash, Jimmy Buffett, Kenny Chesney, and other artists constantly playing in his father’s pole barn — the very same place where he first picked up guitar. With his childhood split between early mornings on the crab boat and afternoons working shifts at a family friend’s restaurant, he soon started crafting songs that echoed the easy rhythms of Gulf Coast living and gritty charm of small-town America. More new music from Metcalf is on the way soon.

ABOUT MADDEN METCALF:
Twenty-year-old Country artist Madden Metcalf hails from Panacea, Florida — a fishing town of fewer than a thousand people, where his family has lived for generations. Raised between mornings on the crab boat and nights working at a local restaurant, he built his music on small-town grit, Gulf Coast roots, and the soundtrack of his dad’s pole barn, where Johnny Cash, Jimmy Buffett, and Kenny Chesney were always playing. Due out March 20, his upcoming EP Saltwater Southern blends modern Country hooks with timeless storytelling, offering songs that are as much Florida as they are Nashville. Shaped by family, faith, and the influence of his late uncle Darren, Madden sees music as a way to connect —turning his personal stories into something listeners everywhere can feel. With saltwater in his veins and Southern pride in his soul, Madden Metcalf is quickly emerging as one of Country’s most exciting new voices.

KEEP UP WITH MADDEN METCALF