Easily one of our most highly anticipated albums of 2023, pop powerhouse Mae Muller has delivered Sorry I’m Late, and when we say delivered, we mean delivered. While the album title alludes to the time it’s taken Mae to drop this album, if you ask us, she is just in time. A celebration of the multiplicity of today’s young women, Sorry I’m Late explodes with relatability and refreshing vulnerability from the 26-year-old North Londoner, with beats that make us do that stanky face thing and shake our a*ses, and lyrics that make us snap our fingers.
Stream Sorry I’m Late, right now. We’ll wait.
We had the joy of chatting with Mae Muller earlier this week, in advance of Sorry I’m Late, and the excitement in the room was palpable. And let us just say – this was easily one of the most fun press conferences we’ve experienced. Mae Muller is just so bloody lovely, with the chatty confident personality of a seasoned megastar, and the relatable, warm and comfy approach of your best friend. Everything we already loved about Mae Muller was amplified tenfold, and it was a privilege to spend some time in Mae’s company. Good things deserve to happen to good people, and judging by the immediate reaction to Sorry I’m Late – those good things are coming!
“All I can ever ask for, for anyone listening to my music, is that, you know, that they feel it and they feel that it’s authentic, and they can kinda go “Oh you know maybe I’m not alone in that because Mae’s singing about that,” and I’d love for it to be visual you know, for them to kinda listen to it and then go “Omg yeah I can see that, I can see that story, I can see that situation. That’s always what I really wanted to achieve in my song writing. The Pop Girlies – its our time.”
Mae Muller in conversation with The Honey POP!
Our Thirsty Little Review
We see the multiplicity of women explored again throughout the Sorry I’m Late artwork, with the many personas of Mae. Check out the Spotify vertical videos for each track, and the LP vinyl artwork! We see the Mae’s surrounding a feast table adorned with food, red wine and champagne – as all good feasts should be. And it got us thinking – If each Mae persona represents a song on the album, maybe the drinks do too! Sorry I’m Late has certainly got our tastebuds tingling! Which song will see us out with our girlies, gays and theys, sipping a fruity little cocktail, and which will have us curled up with a cup of tea as we process our feelings? Champagne more your vibe? Which track is that expensive sip of refreshing champagne we will keep coming back to? Don’t worry, we asked Mae Muller for that one herself!
Check out our thirsty little review of our fave Sorry I’m Late songs, now! Cheers!
‘B*tch With A Broken Heart’ – Whiskey Sour
She’s a woman scorned, she’s sweet and sour, and she’s strong enough to knock you over. ‘B*tch With A Broken Heart’ has been hurt too many times, and that’s his error. “Playing games with me was a really bad move, and now you’re slipping, oh boy what were you thinking, when you broke a b*tch’s heart?” This is easily one of our fave tracks on Sorry I’m Late. We imagine Mae sitting at the bar, stewing over him, trying to keep composure while plotting his demise. Break a heart too many times, you’ll be regretting it, just like if you order too many of this sweet, sour and deceptively strong cocktail!
‘I Wrote A Song’ – An Ice Cold Large McDonalds Sprite
Just like a McDonalds Sprite, we’re asking “What did Mae Muller put in this to make it so good?” ‘I Wrote A Song’ is in its own league of pop perfection. She’s Eurovision royalty, full of sweet pop bubbles that we always come back to. Yes okay, McDonalds Sprite isn’t a cocktail or mocktail, but it’s just… right? If you don’t get it, you won’t get it, you’re probably a Fanta person. We’re obsessed with the track list positioning and story telling of ‘I Wrote A Song’ following ‘B!tch With A Broken Heart.’ Mae promised him she was coming for him in her songs, and then she literally “wrote a song.” We are utterly satisfied. *sips*
‘Me, Myself & I’ – Martini
We’re thinking of Mae floating down a grand staircase, Martini in hand, wearing one of those old Hollywood feathered silk robes (you know the one). She’s single, she’s bossing, she’s thriving, and it’s an impeccable vibe. ‘Me, Myself & I’ feels like such an expression of self love. She’s fine, she doesn’t need him, thanks. She’s “finally realised [she’s] too busy to be a wife,” and she’s “the love of [her] own life.” It’s empowering, and so utterly relatable. Listing through names of her past, and saying goodbye to those that weighed her down, the story line of this stunning song feels anthemic.
‘Tatiana’ – Appletini
Green eyed jealousy with a surprising sweetness, ‘Tatiana’ is one of the greatest surprises on Sorry I’m Late. A triumphant collaboration with Dylan, which already feels so right, ‘Tatiana’ is for the girls – the girls who have been stung and deserve better. At first introduction, it’s jealous – “All this jealousy it ain’t fair on you and it ain’t fair on me,” but delve deeper and listen on, you’ll find such a freshness to this song. Yes, she’s jealous of the blonde bombshell “he” went to, but more than anything, she’s mad he’s created that dynamic between them. It is “all his fault,” and Mae Muller and Dylan come together to speak their truth about how they’re feeling, while also reminding ‘Tatiana’ of her worth. We got to chat to Mae about this incredible track and about working with Dylan!
Writing that song, I kinda wanted it to be like a modern day ‘Jolene,’ that’s how I’d describe it. And I love that dynamic of you know, say when your partner may have been unfaithful, it’s like you kinda take him out of it and you speak directly to the girl. I just feel like that was a really, I kinda wanted to explore that. […} And it just sounds like a really honest conversation between two people and figuring it out. They’re going through it together and it’s not like a competition, it’s sort of, they’re looking out for each other you know.
Mae Muller in conversation with The Honey POP! on track ‘Tatiana’
I love Dylan, she’s a friend of mine, which is really nice, so that happened really organically, because it’s always nice to work with friends. […] And I never wrote a second verse, even when it took a minute. You know Dylan, she’s a busy lady, but I was like “No I’m not writing a second verse, because I need a girl, I need a girlie on this, it needs to be a conversation, I need to have the other perspective. And then she came in to the studio, we wrote the verse together, and she killed it. It was exactly what I wanted it to be. […] I think just, as two girls in the industry, who are sorting of coming up, it can be very very competitive and there’s actually no need for it. So it kinda feels like, even better and even more the right thing that it’s Dylan on that song with me, and I can’t wait for people to hear it.
Mae Muller in conversation with The Honey POP!, on working with Dylan
‘I Wish I Could Hate You’ – A Good Red Wine
This painfully honest and reflective song exposes us to Mae Muller’s internalized battle over the person who hurt her. Of wanting to hate him and how much easier it would be if she did. We feel like we’re exploring thoughts once owning the pages of Mae’s diary, noted in a wave of self awareness while sipping a good red. Now immortalized in this stripped back mid-tempo track, with a sprinkling of electro-pop glitter, it’s a rich song with notes of growth and being self aware. Like a fine red wine, ‘I Wish I Could Hate You’ stands alone in its smooth emotional sophistication.
‘Little Bit Sad’ – “Orange Vod-juice-ka”
Did someone say The Office? Oh yeah, Mae Muller did, hoping her ex can’t watch it anymore because it reminds him of her. Thankfully, we can still enjoy all the Dwight Schrute musings that streaming services have to offer. ‘Little Bit Sad’ is now synonymous in our minds, with the mix of sweetness and realistic bitterness reminiscent of Dwight’s “Orange Vod-juice-ka” from Season 5, Episode 11 Moroccan Christmas: “That is vodka and I mixed it with orange juice. I call it an orange vod-juice-ka.” ‘Little Bit Sad’ is a refreshing sip of honesty, mixed with a good glug of the hard stuff that can be hard to swallow.
‘MTJL’ – Cup of Tea
There’s a time and a place for a cocktail or mocktail, and there’s a time and a place for a cup of tea. This is that time. ‘MTJL’ (Maybe That’s Just Life) is so comfortingly relatable. This is by far the most open and vulnerable we have seen Mae Muller, and it has given us goosebumps. ‘MTJL’ is a stunning acoustic ballad, exposing the songwriting and vocal talent of Muller, as she narrates her own insecurities. Sorry I’m Late, as a whole body of work, echoes the experiences of so many young women in today’s world. This song solidifies that message in pure honesty. Maybe that is just life, we guess, and sometimes when we’re feeling at our lowest, as our British Mum would say, a cup of tea can solve the world, even if for a moment. Someone make Mae Muller a good cup of tea, please.
‘Something Real’ – Cosmo
“I’m over the limit, watch Sex and the City, but I wanna live it.” Need we say more? Mae Muller paints such an authentic visual throughout the lyricism of ‘Something Real.’ Tired of wading through the dating scene of disappointment, swiping right but never finding Mr. Right, and seeking validation from strangers who have no place in self worth. Sure, we’re not going to be skipping through the puddled streets of New York in a tutu, but we will sip a Sex in the City Cosmo with Mae, and that’s exactly what this feels like. We’ll muse over the frustrations of seeking love and feeling like we’re running out of time, while checking ourselves on the perceived timeline society expects us to fall in line with. “[We’d] like a cheeseburger, large fries, and a Cosmopolitan.” – Carrie Fisher
‘Nervous (In A Good Way)’ – Sweet Sunrise Mocktail
It’s the butterflies in your stomach, sitting on your hands through sheer nervous energy, and the anticipation of the start of something new. The sunrise of a new relationship, and letting the memories of those who let you down before, sink to the bottom of your glass. It’s the nerves you don’t need to calm, because they’re electric and thrilling. Mae Muller’s new single, which coincides with the release of Sorry I’m Late, ‘Nervous (In A Good Way)’ takes us on a journey of an unknown future, but the promise of enjoying the now, with a tantalizing sip of something sweet.
Stream the brand new single, here!
‘P*rn Lied To Us’ – Negroni Spagliatto
Yes it did. It created unrealistic expectations and often, anxiety. A surprising track that left us saying “Oooh she went there!” on a topic of intimacy so untouched in pop culture, with this laid back rhythmic musing. It’s giving Negroni Spagliatto, because much like unrealistic depictions of intimacy that Mae Muller explores in ‘P*rn Lied To Us,’ we were duped into thinking this trending sip was going to rock our worlds It’s actually eye-wateringly bitter and you only ever order it once before you realize that you really just wanted an Aperol Spritz all along….
‘Miss America’ – Champagne
We can take no credit for this one, this was all Mae! ‘Miss America’ is Mae Muller’s expensive sip of champagne that we’ll all keep coming back to!
“[Miss America] is giving like, so sonically, it just sounds really big and quite grand. It’s quite like, Marina and The Diamonds-eque, Lana Del Ray sonically, but I think the lyrics are quite like cutting and they’re quite self deprecating, but sonically it sounds like it could be played in a grand hall and there’s like, strings. It’s just, I’m really bigging it up now, but I think that would sound like a sip of champagne. But then you hear the lyrics, and you’re like “girly’s going through it!”
Mae Muller in conversation with The Honey POP!, on track ‘Miss America’
‘Written By A Woman’ – Rosé Sangria
Refreshing, a bit different, and better than the usual on offer. Are talking about this fruity little number, or are we talking about men written by women? Mae has so beautifully and accurately captured a perspective so rarely verbalized in pop culture – the female gaze. Not all male-attracted women are after the factory definition of “manly” – that isn’t even a thing. We don’t want toxic masculinity that leaves a bad taste in your mouth, and this is captured so immaculately on ‘Written By A Woman.’ Throughout Sorry I’m Late, Mae Muller has refused to shy away from authentically stating her facts, and this track is the epitome of that. This is a cocktail written by a woman, for a song ‘Written By A Woman,’ about a man ‘Written By A Woman.’ It’s woman-ception, and we’ll drink to that.
It’s one of my favourite tracks on the album, it’s all about the female gaze and speaking about things from a woman’s perspective, which feels right to have it as the final track. I just think that a lot of the time, what men think women find attractive is not true at all – we don’t necessarily want an alpha male, we want someone who’s in touch with their feminine side and who isn’t afraid to show emotion. Being gentle is sexy as hell! There’s enough music out there that caters for the male gaze, so I wanted to write about what I find attractive.
Mae Muller on ‘Written By A Woman’
Cheers to Mae Muller, and Sorry I’m Late
We think this album is a knock out, and we couldn’t be happier or more proud of Mae Muller. The journey to this release has been a pleasure to be behold, and has seen this rising star stay true to her sound, her strong and empowering narrative, and her bubbly authentic personality. In fact, we take it back, Mae Muller is no longer falling into our “rising star” category – she has risen, and we will be seated. If this is a debut album… well then, the future is in for a treat. Congratulations on your debut album Mae Muller! Get the drinks in, it’s time to celebrate!
Are you loving Sorry I’m Late by Mae Muller? What’s your fave track from this incredible album? Come and chat to us on our socials, we love to see it! We’re over on the bird app that no longer birds, @thehoneypop or visit us on Facebook and Instagram. Discord more your thing? Ours too!
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