CAITLIN MAE

                                                                "Fiona" 

                                                                Independent Release

2022 was a monumental year of moving forward for Welsh based artist Caitlin Mae. Having toured Nashville three times over this past year, catching attention of the Music City media and industry during each trek, she has perfectly positioned herself as an artist to keep an eye on in 2023 to see what moves come next for the promising talent; and she isn’t making us wait too long to find out!

Caitlin delivers her newest release “Fiona” just two weeks into the new year, and offers us the first taste of things still to come from her anticipated sophomore EP.

Intriguingly navigating her way between several different styles sonically, which borrow from dreamy pop soundscapes and modern country flare, Caitlin perks the ears with an ultra-unique vibe that has her walking genre lines while creating something to call her own.

The chunk of the very moody guitar through the intro rhythmically pushes you into the song before dipping into a lower seated production to accent her voice as it perfectly slides in over the top of the subtle instrumentation build.

Mae has admittedly shared that at the songs core sits a “sad darkness” that we all find ourselves in when we get inside our own heads and anxiously relive past heartbreaks, while she skillfully adds a beam of light down the middle of it to elevate the lyrics which expertly pull from the familiarity of Princess Fiona’s fairy tale story to wrap skillfully around her own past regrets.

Lamenting that she should have stayed at home rather than chasing after the one riding in on a white horse, Mae then weaves us through the darker depths of the aftermath of heartbreak as she poetically sings of her mirror showing her stormy eyes, her faking a smile so it appears that everything is alright, the feeling of being haunted by the empty room, and the idea of something beautiful being too good for her and out of her reach.

Lifting her voice at all the right intervals makes the punch of certain words and phrasing radiate out the speakers as a bold highlight to specific emotions, while in the middle of the darkness that she’s trudging us through, there are flashes of positivity that sees her picturing an escape from her own prison.

This is a cleverly written song that carries a lot of emotionally charged elements that will hit home for so many listeners who experiencing their own tough times right now, which gives this a connectibility feature that will instantly grip the right audience demographic she’s aiming for, but it’s also a shining testament to how solid Mae is as an endearingly poetic driven songwriter as she showcases her abilities of taking darker themes and tones and injecting them with promising light.

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis)

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