Mae Krell Emerges with Intimate Reflections and Healing Breakthroughs in “tooth fairy”
Arriving to the sad girl indie scene with beautifully deep insights and undeniable pop prowess, New York-based singer and songwriter Mae Krell releases her new single “tooth fairy.” The single is Krell’s first release since her acclaimed debut four track EP imposter syndrome. Influenced by Bob Dylan, Phoebe Bridgers and Gregory Alan Isakov, Krell immerses herself in the realms of folk-pop and poetry.
Soft-spoken and confessional, the songstress overflows with vulnerability and wisdom. “Tooth fairy” echoes the heart-wrenching and intimate experiences that we all experience in our 20s. The feeling was captured in the wake of growing pains and healing old wounds.
The journey to this single hasn’t been easy. “Tooth fairy” is a poetic introspection about coming to the realization that you may be better off without someone who you previously thought was indispensable. “I wrote it after I found out that someone who used to be my best friend moved to the city where I grew up,” Krell says. “It felt like tearing open an old wound that I didn’t know I had, and also put me in a spot to question: if the chance were to arise, would I want to give them a second chance? That’s something I’m still trying to figure out.”
Following the release of her debut EP, Krell returns with a somber single that surrounds the uncertainty of giving out second chances and navigates through personal hardships. After her healing, Krell returns stronger than ever with the perfect blend of melancholic undertones, ethereal harmonies and an impactful storytelling aspect in her lyricism. Krell’s creative vision centers around authenticity through her experiences with self-love, relationships and healing, where she strives to connect with listeners through the realms of creativity and storytelling.
[UNPUBLISHED]:Thanks for sitting down and talking to Unpublished. For any readers who aren’t familiar with your music, can you give us a quick introduction to what type of music you make?
[MAE]: Sad girl indie is the genre that I’ve come into.
[UNPUBLISHED]: How did you initially find your love for music and songwriting?
[MAE]: I went to my first concert when I was like 14 or 15, and just there was something about hearing people so connected to music in person that flipped some kind of switch for me. I was like, I want to do that. I didn't play any instruments. I had never written a song before. I literally never had a musical background before, but I was like I want to do that. That was my switch and I was very shy and quiet and grew out of that.
[UNPUBLISHED]:What artists inspire you either lyrically or instrumentally? Whether that's just music you love to listen to or music that you pull inspiration from into yours?
[MAE]: It’s always changing. I’ve been listening to Charlie Hickey’s record on repeat for like a million years, I really love his writing style. Lyrically, I love Tommy Lefroy and what they’re doing. I’m also a big fan of Jack Kays!
[UNPUBLISHED]: You just released your single “tooth fairy,” what was the inspiration behind the song and how did you come up with the title?
[MAE]: The title is pulled out of the first lyric of the song, which is also the first lyric that I wrote for it which is, “Every word felt like pulling teeth and I'm no tooth fairy.” I built the entire song around that lyric. Background-wise, I was really, really good friends with someone for like seven or eight years, and I have a song on the EP called “Rest Stop” which is about that friendship and I found out he moved to New York – where I grew up and was living at the time. It threw me through a total loop because I could suddenly see him everywhere. New York is a really small town in a weird way, like people don’t expect it but you run into people all the time.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Why do you love this song, is there a specific lyric or message that stands out to you? What excites you the most?
[MAE]: There’s a couple Easter eggs lyrics that have double meanings in them, that’s probably my favorite part.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What did the creative process look like for “tooth fairy?”
[MAE]: I write around certain lyrics, so I'll have something that is the baseline of a song and then I'll write the rest of it around that concept. I'll reach out to my friend who produces my music and send him stuff, and then we'll go from there in terms of building up the track in the studio. “tooth fairy” was originally written in the same bundle as the songs for the EP in February [imposter syndrome]. There's like a little bit of a B side, but we both kind of forgot that it existed. I went into the studio and we re-recorded them.
[UNPUBLISHED]: When you’re writing, are you pulling from personal experience or is it general storytelling?
[MAE]: I usually write from either experiences that I’ve had or people that I know, or things they’ve talked about. Once in a while, I’ll write something that’s more inspired by a different situation.
[UNPUBLISHED]: You recently released your EP imposter syndrome back in February. Has the creative process been different for “tooth fairy” and have you taken any new approaches? Are you experimenting more lyrically or instrumentally since the EP release?
[MAE]: Writing-wise, “tooth fairy” falls in the same timeline because it was written for the EP, but when we re-recorded it, we went a lot more simple than the stuff on the EP production-wise and tried to focus more on the vocals and the lyrics. There's more drums going on as well.
[UNPUBLISHED]: You just released “tooth fairy,” how are you feeling in this current era of your career, what are you planning for the rest of the year that you’re excited to share with us?
[MAE]: I'm starting to work on a new EP, so tracking and getting in with that which I'm very excited about.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Is there any advice you wish you had been given when you were first starting your music career?
[MAE]: I know everyone says to not compare yourself to other people, but I think it’s specifically to not compare yourself to people who come from extremely different backgrounds or access. Just having awareness when you’re thinking about yourself as an artist.
[UNPUBLISHED]: I couldn’t help but notice all your beautiful tattoos. Which one is your favorite and why?
[MAE]: I have a tattoo on my knee of bandaids that’s my favorite.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What is your wildest dream as an artist? If you can have one thing happen (a milestone or dream collaboration you hope to achieve in your career), what would that look like for you?
[MAE]: It's not the wildest idea, but my first thought process was ‘I just wanna get to a point where I can do this [music] and just do this.’ Dream collaboration-wise, I'm so basic I just love Taylor Swift. I want to write with her or meet her from an artist's perspective, and that would be really cool because she's really good at every single genre that she has gone into. I'm a huge fan of hers.
