What is Mae

Alec and Mike just dropped by Pittsburgh this past weekend, which was really awesome. We drank Miller Lite from dixie cups, watched a 55 year old lady take a hit of ganja at a Wailers concert, bar-hopped around Carson Street, and caught a Pirates game in which there were 10 runs before there were 7 outs. What does this have to do with music? We also saw a pretty cool show put on by Dear and the Headlights, As Tall As Lions, and Mae.

Dear and the Headlights was my personal favorite, putting together a nice mix of their songs and really coming together as the show went on. They seemed a bit loose at the start, but were really feeling it by the end. As Tall As Lions was nothing too special in my opinion as songs seemed to flow in and out of one another with no real distinction. And then Mae. Mae is one of those bands that I have missed every time they come to town for the past 4 or 5 years. It's too bad that I caught them so late, because they are currently on tour for their hideous new album, Singularity. This album took everything that made them so unique and special, crushed it, and ejected a hollow shell of what was Mae.

Well...what was Mae then? To really understand that I like to go back to their debut album, Destination: Beautiful. From the opening track Embers and Envelopes, Mae begins to glide along and take you for a ride. The higher-pitched vocals then slice in, as an almost ethereal keyboard line is floated in the background. From here, it continues into a driving chorus that will get you straining yourself to hit the high notes. The rest of the CD continues to take you on a journey with ambient bass lines, distant keyboards, mathy guitar lines, and long notes that will make your car vibrate ever so slightly. Sun is my favorite track on the album, and it opens with a verse that is just waiting to break out. It finally does in the chorus with a sliding guitar line and simplistic drums before sinking back into the next verse. At the end of the track is a beautiful piano solo that you may find yourself playing over and over again. The last track that I am posting is called Skyline Drive. This song begins like nighttime and slowly builds until you find yourself moving incredibly quickly under the moonlight. I don't really know how else to describe it. In fact, I think that this CD is the best CD for Nighttime Driving (hence the photo up top). Give it a shot, buy it, and you won't regret it.

Mae - Embers and Envelopes

Mae - Sun

Mae - Skyline Drive