Meet Mae Krell, the singer songwriter who is about to work their way into your daily playlist and your heart. 

After taking a year long hiatus to work on writing, creating, and fine tuning their work, Krell made their return to music this morning with the release of their brand new track “garden.”

An honest and powerful take on personal growth following some self realization, “garden” is the first of many upcoming releases by Krell, who we were fortunate enough to chat with about their new track and their plans for 2020.

Second Society Report: First off, I’d like to say thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions today. It’s much appreciated as we are so excited to get to learn more about your new single “garden,” which we understand to be about personal growth and new beginnings. What was your favorite part about writing this song/putting it together? What was the most difficult part?

Mae Krell: Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me about the single! The hardest part was definitely sitting with all the feelings that came up when the track was done and I was listening back to it, finalizing the little things. The easiest part was definitely the writing! “garden” honestly just kind of appeared and wrote itself. 

SSR: How long did it take you to write “garden?” What were your biggest sources of inspiration for the track?

MK: It didn’t take long at all! But the short process of writing it ended up spreading over a long

period of time. I had written the bridge lyrics “I poisoned my roots and then expected to be able to grow” a while back in my phone notes. I was struggling with those same feelings one day and was scrolling through my phone when I saw the note. The rest of the lyrics were written in like, ten minutes. A couple months later I sat down with the lyrics and wrote the melody, which came pretty quickly as well. The inspiration came from my personal growth and recovery in the early stages; and trying to conceptualize a life without some bad habits that had become daily for me.

SSR: What usually comes first for you when writing- the lyrics or the music?

MK: Lyrics typically! But I have written some songs when it was the music [that came first.]

SSR: I know that you recently had about a year long hiatus between your last release and “garden.” How do you think this break helped or hindered you as an artist? Were you nervous to return to the music scene?

MK: It definitely helped me a lot as an artist, and as a person. I knew after releasing Anabasis and touring that I wanted to just keep doing this for as long as I could. It seemed like the best way to go about that is to hibernate for a bit and just write and record and make videos and focus on that for a while, and that’s what I did. There’s definitely a lot of anxiety about returning and releasing music and really going for it. But being nervous means that you still care, so I guess it can be a good thing too.

SSR: Do you have any other song releases or EPs planned for this year that we can look forward to?

MK: Yes!! Nothing set in stone dates wise, but there are more singles and videos and acoustic versions of tracks coming. Lots and lots of new music.

SSR: You are quoted as saying “I don’t want to be portrayed as too put together. I’m still working on myself. I’m constantly changing and growing and falling apart and coming back together.” Why do you think it’s important to show the more vulnerable side of yourself to listeners?  Is this something you find difficult or easy to do?

MK: Vulnerability is always difficult but I think it’s important, at least to me, to not hide the harder parts of my experiences. Everyone has moments of joy and of struggle and I’m a big proponent of not hiding any of it.

SSR: What do you hope that your listeners take away from your music?

MK: I hope they feel understood, or listened to, or heard. and if not any of that, I just hope it makes them feel something or it can act as a soundtrack for whatever they want it to.

SSR: Where do you see yourself in five years? 

MK: Oof. This is always the hardest question. I’m really not sure- but wherever I am, I’ll still be making and releasing music, and touring. I love touring.

SSR: Lastly, is there anything you’d like to share that we didn’t ask about?

MK: The “garden” music video came out on the same day as the song! My friends and I went out of town for the weekend and filmed clips and just had a great time! Then we made all of that into a music video for a song that’s about my fears and anxieties. It was quite the contradiction- but it’s meant to be that way. If I hadn’t worked to grow and heal, then none of the wonderful people I have in my life would be there; so we thought it would be fitting. I’m so excited to be able to share it all.

You can stream “garden” now, and be sure to check out the music video, linked above, and follow Mae Krell on their socials to keep up on all things new music: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Spotify.