A while ago, circa 2008, I was riding in the car with my older brother while we listened to music. The album he played caught my ear immediately. I remember the haunting range of the vocals, the motivated, clean, over-driven tone of the guitars, the sweeping synth and most importantly the unparalleled flowing nature of the songs. Every aspect of the songs served an integral part. The lyrics and the music surrounding it both worked together to create an impassioned release. When asked what he was playing my brother responded with "Mae" and "Singularity"; since then Mae has been a go-to band for me.
Mae, which is short for Multi-sensory Aesthetic Experience, seeks to tackle music in ways that go beyond our auditory nerves. According to Mae's drummer, “The Study [the music] looks at how our senses interact and perceive information and then attempts to translate that information into terms the other senses can comprehend…” Using methods such as visual representations, well thought out lyrics and instrumental representation of real life objects and emotions, Mae wants the listener to experience synesthesia, or a blending of the senses. Their 2005 album "The Everglow" does this in a way which is unparalleled by any other artist I have listened to.
The album begins with a simple piano arpeggio that plays for a few bars followed by a voice that welcomes you to the album. The narrator explains that there are two parts to the album; first there is the audio version, and second there is the booklet that accompanies the album. Between each song there are signal sound effects that indicate to the listener to turn the page. These sounds are embedded into the music so there is no interruption in the flow. The booklet has the songs lyrics on one page and opposite them are many drawings of a boy that subtly represent the songs. This doesn't ruin the listeners' personal interpretation of the song. With that, the first track ends with the Narrator stating "Thank you, and enjoy your journey."
The next song is a ballad titled "We're So Far Away" that is a little unorthodox. Usually, bands start their albums off with an upbeat single-esque song. However, Mae starts this album with a song that is bittersweet. The speaker and story teller looks back at his experiences with a certain individual. He states "Remembering, everything, about my world and when you came. Wondering, the change you’d bring, means nothing else would be the same." It is about memories and coming to terms with an end, and this initial song alludes to the rest of the album, which chronicles the speaker's experiences that are described in the first song.
That song ends with a booming over driven guitar chord, along with the clanging of symbols, and goes immediately into the next song "Someone Else's Arms" . This song picks up a lot and has a faster pace with an aggressive yet smooth guitar riff to start.
That song fades into "Suspension" which became my all time favorite song after to listening to this album. This song is about the excitement of a new experience. It's about being "caught in suspension" and truly finding joy for the first time in a long time.
Another notable song is "The Everglow" which arguably has the most catchy chorus of the whole album. This song is about two people being on the everglow, which Adam Knott explains, "on the basic level of existence, there's a gentle, heart-stopping delicacy in the most fundamental aspects of life - emotion, connection, standing on a beach at night. But have you ever experienced a split-second appreciation of it all slip through your synapses? Like for a moment it all made sense, but then it became intangible, impossible to latch onto. The underlying presence of that power, that strength of feeling, is what Mae call The Everglow." It is a feeling of unfathomable content and realization which is followed by regret, remorse and bittersweet nostalgia. We move on, we try hard, but people drift apart and eras end. The last song "The Sun and The Moon" captures this feeling. People change, and what seems like it would last a lifetime no longer does.
The album closes with an Epilogue which follows the same melody as the first track. The voice comes back and says "Hello again. This concludes 'The Everglow' by Mae. I hope you enjoyed your journey. Goodnight." What a Journey it is. The Everglow reflects so many human emotions during its one-hour running time. The listener can listen, read the lyrics and easily relate to the feeling felt by the speaker. All of the nuances within the music and vocals combine to help the listener experience feelings that transcend simple auditory stimulation. In this album, the listeners feel regret, remorse, love, excitement, nostalgia and loss, all through experiences that are not their own. However, the listener relates; they take part in the journey; they become the speaker, and they feel what he feels. Deep down, the listener can't help but feel that the whole album is a biography of their life. In The Everglow, Mae captures human emotion so the listener walks away with a cathartic feeling like no other.
