Artist: Mae
Site: www.whatismae.com
Album: The Everglow
Label: Tooth and Nail
Release: 2005
Type: Indie-Melodic Rock (with a touch of Emo)
If you like: Sunny-Day Real Estate, Smashing Pumpkins, Juliana Theory
Add two parts nostalgia, one part vivid atmosphere, and one part of deep-layered music and you have Mae’s Everglow. This is one of those albums that must simply be listened to in its entirety.
The first track greets the listener with a unique “introduction” to the album narrated by a soft female voice that welcomes the listener:
“pull out the booklet the accompanies the compact disk…good now you are ready to experience the Everglow…enjoy your journey”
The whole experience lends itself to a storybook with the intentions of sweepings its listeners up in the experience of the author.
This introduction leads seamlessly into the first track, which offers a subtle ballad of piano, a few appearances of strings, and lead singer David Elkins’ vocals. The whole experience lends itself to a storybook with the intentions of sweepings its listeners up in the experience of the author. The artwork in the booklet is worth pulling out and following along with the lyrics so that the combination of what you are seeing, reading and hearing draws you into the Everglow.
Musically Mae continues to develop a memorable, layered, Indie-Pop sound. Though the melodies are simple and, at times, a little repetitive, they each prove themselves a unique and necessary part of the experience. As mentioned before Mae, composes their songs by adding layer after layer of cleverly constructed vocal, guitar, string, piano, percussion/drum kit, and bass tracks to form an intricate wall of sound that flows quietly and loudly through the entire album. The individual instrumentation is predictable yet anything but disappointing. The vocals are strong and lead the music, which is a refreshing change from other bands in their genre.
The content of the Everglow is atmospheric, encouraging, nostalgic and an overall two thumbs up. Mae never comes out and explicitly pronounces their faith in the lyrics, but it is almost unavoidable to see it in songs like “The Ocean”:
“I need you here tonight just like this night it needs the rain. The season has changed. The wind, it moves colder now, colder now. The clouds are raised, the rain it falls harder now, all around. You come over announced. Silence broken by your voice in the dark. I need you here tonight; Just like the ocean needs the waves. So fall around me now. Just like stars that shine and brighten the way. I need you here tonight just like this night it needs the rain. I need you here tonight; Just like the ocean needs the waves. Just like the stars that fall around me now.”
Overall Mae’s Everglow experience is one of the better “overall” projects that I have heard this year. It is more than a just a musical CD; it is a whole experience that will take you back to the days of childhood when stories were read to you with vivid pictures and happy endings.