Looking Toward the Future With Mae Deline
"Future You and Future Me" hits wistfully from the very first few notes. The abject guitar comes through wet from an icy puddle of tears, and Mae Deline's ghostly vocals reveal a tender spirit lashed raw by grief, hurt but not quite dead yet, as the flickering ember of strength gives a little contrasting warmth that ties the entire track together.
This track presents a curious and delectable departure from some of Mae's most recent single releases, as there's a very pronounced alt-rock element to this particular track that broadens her current repertoire a bit. So particular is this "new" sound for Mae Deline that it can even feel a bit nostalgic, as if this song belongs to the early-to-mid 90s in a very unconscious manner and more importantly, with a timeless "X factor" to it that gives the song a 'stylistic longevity' in my opinion - A very personal and generational bias of mine maybe?
As for the lyrics, the story and the context of its writing is one of those slightly stranger-than-fiction moments of real life where everything seems to conspire to put us (or Mae herself, in this case) in the starring role of her very own indie romantic drama.
Mae Deline says: "I was forced out into the cold -quite literally. I drove from Los Angeles to my hometown in Wisconsin in the dead of winter in 2020, essentially living out of my car with my two cats. All written between sobs and cigarettes at random truck stops, suburban neighborhood side streets, and parking lots, this was the first time in my life I felt truly on my own and grieved like I never have before."
The song captures -be it by accident or on purpose- a difficult stage in the break-up process where the heavy blow still hasn't landed completely, and there's a little bit of hope left amid the confusion and heart-wrenching sadness.
"in some future universe, I'm a different person and they're a different person, and that as two changed people, there is a chance it could work out again if it’s really meant to be. And somehow that hope comforted me, even if it was false hope"
Story by Samuel Aponte
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