Life has a funny way of telling us the things we are in need of hearing most. When we get so caught up in our day-to-day routines, symbols and signs come in handy to draw our attention to issues we may be neglecting. Random people or events can also come through, sure to guide us in a better direction. Take singer-songwriter Mae Krell, for instance, and their incident at a rest stop.
For Mae, a flat tire led to an important realization about an ex-friendship – and a new song. They reveal,
“In writing ‘rest stop,’ I was learning that sometimes getting healthier and becoming more independent can end in a loss of a relationship. And, as this specific friendship ended, I started to realize that maybe it wasn’t as good for me as I thought it was.”
While tending to the tire at a rest stop, Mae was in their feelings, seeing the situation as a metaphor for being stuck in more ways than one. The cinematic nature of this scenario carries over into the track, where stripped-back layers of sound and expressive vocals properly convey the matter at hand. As Mae intimately wonders, “Was I better to be around / When you had to pull me out?,” we feel how much this friendship had a hold on them. The more details we get, the more the track builds, unleashing a vibrant indie rock/jazz vibe towards the end. You can check it out in the video below, which features a trip to where it all went down.
You can listen to “rest stop” on platforms like Apple Music, Spotify, and SoundCloud.
Keep up with Mae Krell: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // Website