Perhaps it would be easy to suggest she sounds good for her age, but 19-year-old singer/songwriter Lindsey Mae possesses the sort of talent that’s remarkable by any standard. On her self-titled, debut EP, she draws upon folk and pop in songs as engaging as they are well-written, singing them in a voice that is at turns winsome and impressionably coy.
She wraps acoustic-laden arrangements around picturesque metaphors and imagery, imparting the nervous rush of infatuation with moments of self-consciousness and awkward uncertainty that inevitably come along with it. Throughout the EP’s five tracks—which were produced by Hal Cragin (A Fine Frenzy)—Lindsey Mae demonstrates genuine empathy and sophistication, two qualities which will serve her well as she continues to develop her creativity.
As unaffected and sincere in her demeanor as she is in her music, Lindsey Mae graciously took some time to speak with Donald Gibson of Blogcritics Magazine about her craft and ambition.
On the biography you wrote on your Myspace page, you say that you find writing fascinating. A lot of songwriters actually dread it. They like having written a song, but they don’t particularly enjoy the process. What about songwriting fascinates you?
For me, I’ve always been the kind of person to use writing as a way to speak. Most people who meet me say that I’m a very shy and reserved person. So my way of expressing how I feel is through writing. And it’s always fascinating to me because it’s amazing what comes out [on] paper that sometimes you just can’t say to people. And music’s my way of sneaking out things that I really want to say but I really can’t say. I turn all my poetry and all my writing into my songs.
What do you find as the most challenging aspect of songwriting?
I definitely find coming up with new chord progressions [on the guitar] the hardest part. My dad played bass guitar, so he taught me a few basics, but other than that I was pretty much on my own. I’ve kind of been coaching myself.
You have a real affinity for melody.
I love it. Love it.
Do the melodies just come to you or does it take a great deal of effort to work them out?
Usually, they just come to me. For example, there was a day last week [when] I was just getting on the subway and I just started humming this melody. And I just pulled out my phone and recorded it. I came back and wrote a song.
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