My Top 40 Albums - #2

#2
Mae - "The Everglow"

Year: 2005
Label: Tooth & Nail
Favorite songs: The Everglow, Cover Me, Suspension, We're So Far Away/Someone Else's Arms, Painless, The Sun and the Moon...
Lyric sample: "Painted skies / I've seen so many that cannot compare (to) / Your ocean eyes / The pictures you took that cover your room / And it was just like the sun but more like the moon / A light that can reach it all / So now I'm branded for taking the fall"

The Everglow isn't something you listen to - it's something you experience.

Mae's astounding sophomore record is a delight, a sweeping pop rock epic packed with energy and pathos. The breakout indie rock outfit from Norfolk, VA, have cleverly infused the sounds on the compact disc with the liner notes to take the listener on a storybook journey. As you read the lyrics and listen to the music, you can follow along in the water colored mini-book whose simple but vibrant images place the various tracks in the context of a whimsical fantasy, a concept which reinforces the already superb song sequence. The order is perfect, and thanks to the sounds that neatly connect the songs to one another (as well as signal the listener to turn the page in the insert), this is the most cohesive concept album I've heard in years.

With Destination:Beautiful, Mae showed they were competent musicians who could write catchy indie/emo tunes. The Everglow ratchets up the sonic qualities and blows the first album completely out of the water. It's louder and bolder but also more tender. Mae's distorted guitars have a soft edge, and the ever-present keys are effective at sustaining the mood - accenting the rock sounds and soaking the ballads. Dave Elkins' soothing vocals easily ride the waves created by the rest of the band, and he is a comforting guide.

After the brief introduction, The Everglow opens with "We're So Far Away," a gorgeous piano piece that begins the journey with reflection and longing. It segues with great satisfaction into "Someone Else's Arms," the loudest and most straightforward rock tune that Mae fans have heard up to this point. The juxtaposition of those two songs is a most welcome surprise that fills us with exciting expectations that our journey will be dynamic and unpredictable. Most of the record is not so notable as this initial pairing, but it is filled with little sublime moments. The peppy "Suspension" and transitional "This Is the Countdown" are more subtle, feeding thought-provoking lyrical snippets at measured intervals between singable choruses and driving bridges.

The lyrics on this album are not, for the most part, terribly original or evocative. It's kind of a shame because with some sharper writing the effect might have been a truly transcendent. Also, while I hate to ever complain about being given more for my money, The Everglow could probably function as well with fewer tracks. "Breakdown," and especially "Mistakes We Knew We Were Making" feel a little like filler material. However, a great director, cinematographer and actors can sometimes create a masterpiece even with a flawed script; and with The Everglow it's all about the presentation. We've heard these emotions and ideas before, but never in this way. The unparalleled craft elevates and insulates the weaknesses so that you don't even notice them except upon some reflection. This is a record full of great moments that also amounts to a whole greater than the parts, which is a pretty impressive achievement.

Consider the underrated "Cover Me." The bridge in this song is wonderful. After a typical soaring exclamation ("Figure this out and to be free tonight") the song collapses down to a single palm-muted guitar riff backed by a tentative piano. The note choices are exquisite. Every one has value, none are wasted. I sucks you in, breathless, listening for what they will do next. As the instruments join and the intensity builds back up again, the same riff is given layers with more complimentary notes in what becomes one of the best songs on the record. You have to hear it to appreciate it.  This is followed by the title track, the triumphant climax of our spiritual journey. The keys sparkle over the song like a clear canopy of twinkling stars and you can feel the rapturous satisfaction of decision and victory and rest. Tracks 12-14 are more of the declining action, culminating in "The Sun and The Moon," a devastating swell of sadness and beauty. The repeating progression in the extended outro is genius - so simple yet so entrancing. Taking advantage of the circle of relationships between chords in a key, it leads us around and around in inescapable, dreamlike maelstrom. It seems appropriate that song evokes sea-like imagery. You could say that "The Sun and the Moon" is a sister song to "The Ocean," the other true ballad that sits in the middle of the record. It's a fitting denouement to a bittersweet experience.

If you haven't heard this album, there's no time like the present. If you have, it's easy to tell, because you're shaking your head wondering why this isn't number 1. ;)  Relive the magic with this video of Suspension.