Reviewers listen to “good” songs all day. It’s rare to hear a song that feels destined to be a standard – one of the finest songs of this generation. But that’s exactly my response to Mae Deline’s latest single “Future You And Future Me.”
The L.A. artist has a flair for melodies that are in the McCartney/Brian Wilson category, with lyrics that are more intimate and revealing than what those greats have given us.
By the time you reach the unexpected first chord of the bridge in “Future You And Future Me”, it’s clear that this artist is a spectacularly gifted songwriter and singer. Mae Deline’s music blends Beatles-style melodies with the lyrical depth of Aimee Mann and Taylor Swift. On a 1-to-10 scale, Mae’s latest single is a 12.
Wow, is Paul McCartney your uncle? “Future You And Future Me” has a haunting, McCartney-esque melody. What’s the backstory on what you were feeling when you wrote it?
That compliment is too big for me to let in. I think I’m going to need a minute…haha, thank you! Well, I had just split from my past relationship of four years and drove back to my hometown in Wisconsin; it was 2020 and with Covid protocols and my immune-compromised father, I felt so misplaced. I spent a lot of time just really sitting in my car. I wrote the song on a baby Martin travel guitar from the front seat. I said all the things I could never say in the relationship – the things he couldn’t hear. I couldn’t believe it was really over, and I thought, “what if in some future universe, I become a different person and he becomes a different person, and if it’s meant to be, we’ll be together again.” The idea really comforted me and it’s one song of the many I wrote during that time that got me through those incredibly difficult feelings.
It feels inevitable that “Future You And Future Me” will get covered by other artists. What artists would be on your dream list of people who might cover it someday?
I’ll say, Jewel. She was my first musical love as a child and into young adulthood and she informed my songwriting tremendously. She was the first singer I ever learned to cover, so it would be divinely full circle to have her cover one of my songs one day! That would be a dream come true.
Who did the fabulous co-production on “Future You And Future Me”?
His name is Jon Joseph and he is amazing! He did the production on a number of the songs I have coming out this year and I’m really confident having him produce songs that are so meaningful and precious to me.
Will your next single be a pop/rock banger to balance out your ballads?
On May 23rd I’ll be putting out a rather vitriolic, grungy guitar-driven rock song called “Black Magic” (produced by Ben Mironer). It’s heavy and angry…and then I do have some more uptempo songs coming out this year that feel a lot lighter and brighter. Every month this year, I’ll put out a new song on the 23rd.
Story: Larry McClain // Photos: Courtesy of the artist
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