Mae.
When Mae released their first album, Destination: Beautiful, I was not a fan. Everybody else was, but it just didn’t happen for me. I don’t generally nitpick about recording quality or styles, but I think my biggest issue with that album is that it sounded thin and empty.
To me, music is very emotionally charged. Even if it was written without any passion, depth or meaning, I insert my own into it. This isn’t intentional, it’s just the way that I am wired. So when Mae’s first album seemed to sound “flat,” it felt “flat” to me.
About a year later I saw an acoustic show of theirs. It was actually just the singer and guitar player, and I loved it. Loved it. It caused me to go back and listen to Destination: Beautiful again, and even though I wasn’t a huge fan, it helped me remember the experience I had at their acoustic show.
Time passed and eventually they released their first single off their new album, The Everglow, called “Suspension.” The first time I heard it I had one of those “I just experienced music in a different way than ever before” type of moments. I couldn’t stop listening to it. I couldn’t play it loud enough. I couldn’t even hold it together long enough for the album to actually release.
When The Everglow finally did release, it didn’t disappoint at all, in any way. I really believe that that album is a defining one for that generation of “scenesters,” indie music, or whatever term you want to put on it.
At this point I started seeing them live as many times as possible. Actually, one of the first things that Es and I did together was go to a Mae concert (she had bought me tickets for my birthday.) They were always amazing. They never failed to ooze energy, passion, and emotion when they performed.
After what seemed like forever, they finally announced their next full-length would be coming out. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of any other CD that I anticipated more than Singularity. And after finally listening to it in it’s entirety, I can’t think of any other CD that ever let me down so much. It sounds kind of silly to type that out, but it’s true. It made me feel like The Everglow was just a fluke. And if that was an accident, than what does that mean for music?
Is it possible to accidentally create something beautiful and not know how to find that place again?
I tried to stick up for the band and the album. I would say things like “You can’t be angry at a band because they did something different,” or “music changes, and if the band doesn’t change and grow then they aren’t really a good band anyway.” I even thought maybe if I listened to the album enough I would “learn to love it.” It was all pointless though. The band that I knew, and everything it represented musically and artistically, was gone.
Well years passed and my one of my new Iowan friends, Perry, told me they had released some music on their website. I went to check it out as soon as I got home and, although very skeptical, was getting more and more excited with each click.
The first thing that I read was about the bands (now just three members instead of the original five) 2009 mission statement:
With our desire to impact the world being the forefront of our mission, we have decided to donate all of our profits from digital downloads to fund humanitarian projects that MAE and you will be a part of all year long. Our new goals have become to reach new fans through you, our fans, and to reach out to those in need through the MAE community.
With this new creed, success will be redefined over and over again as we meet our goals and set new ones to change the lives of those in need, and spread this message through our music and through our community of fans and friends.
I was pretty stunned to hear this. I don’t know why, but for some reason I assumed that no mid-sized band that had fallen off the face of the earth would try and do something good for others. It just didn’t (and still doesn’t) really make sense. Which is exactly why I loved it.
I was excited that they were releasing a new song each month for an entire year, and that people could pay what they want for them.
I was excited that, even though it seemed like the band had died, there was something brewing.
But I was mostly excited about the music that I heard on their site. It sounds like something that should have been released after The Everglow. It sounds like the passion, emotion, and music of the band that I was so sure would be able to have a huge, lasting effect on the music scene. There are about 10 songs or so available on their website. If you are a fan of Mae, then you will like these songs.
The story isn’t over though. (Sorry.)
I saw a tweet today talking about the new single from Mae, called “Bloom.” So I of course went online to check it out and it’s even better than the other songs they’ve released on their website.
(Go to their website to here it for yourself.)
I also stumbled across a slightly outdated interview and a more recent forum posts that I found interesting about the split, the reforming, the albums (yes, even Singularity), and some other stuff.
I guess at this point you can probably tell that I love this band. I am genuinely thrilled that they are doing another tour, putting out another full-length, and that, what might be the end for this band, will be done well and that we can go out on a high note.
I will also be going to see them in either Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Omaha, or Ames. Or maybe a few of those places.
So lastly, and I don’t know how I missed this, I discovered that Mae re-recorded Embers and Envelopes, a song of their first album. It was re-recorded and released in 2008. I love the way that it sounds, and wish the entire first album could be re-recorded, but I’ll take what I can get.
The thing that surprised me the most about this is the drastic change in lyrics. But as I read over them, I feel like it was very fitting and telling of the journey they have been on, and where it seems to be ending.
Bold = Original lyrics
Italicized = 2008 Lyrics
We write to apologize. We ask to look past life as it goes by.
I still write to apologize and ask to look at life. It has passed us by.
I know you have sacrificed time, life, love, time to fly.
I know you have sacrificed time, life, and love. Now it’s time to fly.
Please consider all things trite, forgiveness will be the thing that gets us by.
Please consider nothing trite. Forgiveness will be the thing that will get us by.
I know to have something like this broken is hard to fix.
I know to have something like this, broken, it’s hard to fix.
Embers, we’re burning bridges down.
Oh! Envelopes stuffed with feelings found.
To write this down is means to reconcile.
We write to patch things up, maybe not to agree but to proclaim love.
We write to patch things up. Agree to disagree, then to proclaim love.
Let’s look ahead and then we’ll see the one whose glory never ends.
Let’s look ahead, and then we’ll see the path, and for us this is where it ends.
And based on that we’ll see, there’ll be room for change, but gradually.
So based on that we’ll see the change has come in, come in constantly.
I know to have something like this broken is hard to fix.
I know to have something like this, broken, it’s so hard to fix.
If all is said and done and over,
if we don’t have to, then we’re not going to.
Make the change, ‘cause it’s worth the try.
What’s broken can be fixed tonight.
