The FADER's weekly column What Rules highlights one of our office's new obsessions.
Who are they?
Name: Mae Muller
Style: Addictive and clever pop songs about dumb boys and the powerful emotions they make us feel.
Location: London
Why should I listen?
I found Mae Muller via the Apple Music algorithm and the computer gods were correct in thinking that I would really enjoy her mix of biting and romantic pop songs about love and its trappings. On her 2018 EP After Hours, produced by star-making producer Two Inch Punch, she swerves back and forth between those two moods. On "B.B.A.," she triumphantly takes a stand for ladies who like to get some action, and on "Jenny," she slams a cheater with the help of a new friend. On the latter she sings pointedly, "You think you're sitting pretty getting your kicks / You want your ego to be stroked and have your arse licked." Add it to the pantheon of great songs about women who have been wronged by trash men.
But on "The Hoodie Song," Muller's natural charisma will get you good. The sparse track finds Muller showing her vulnerable side, but there's no pity party here. She's anxiously waiting at home for her man and she's taken all of his clothes hostage. It's a cute concept for a song and she really sells it. I'm totally hooked.
Where should I start?
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What Rules Right Now
