By Aline Mahrud

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

TRACKLIST: I Just Came To Dance; Sorry Daniel; Bitch With A Broken Heart; I Wrote A Song; Me, Myself And I; Tatiana; Somebody New; I Wish I Could Hate You; A Little Bit Sad; MTJL; Breathe; Something Real; Nervous (In A Good Way); Better Days; Porn Lied To Us; Miss America; Written By A Woman

Muller has co-written all but 1 of the 17 songs here and there’s a line in the downbeat, reflective and extraordinarily vulnerable MTJL (Maybe That’s Just Life) that says: ‘I wish I was a better singer, or better than I am. I wish one little thing would go to plan.’

• Read on for reasons including why this is 1 of the year’s best albums

It could be commentary on Muller’s appearance at the Eurovision Song Contest in May in Liverpool where her I Wrote A Song, our song of the month, was 1 of the most popular entries but where her performance failed to deliver.

It was a UK top 10 hit and is very much the centrepiece of this collection which charts at number 33 in her home country this week and doesn’t come close to matching the chart-topping debut album of her Eurovision predecessor.

What Sorry I’m Late does reveal however is how relatable Muller is and what a quirky and memorable songwriter she can be and there’s a strength in depth here which fully justifies the expanded nature of the tracklist.

We said of I Wrote A Song: ‘Especially clever is the line: ‘I was ready for a sentence, baby, Instead I wrote it all down’ coming, as it does, after the car vandalism confession.’

Muller followed it up with Me, Myself and I, a song of the week for us but not a hit, of which we said: ‘We just love the cheeky lyric. Muller can’t decide between a string of lovers and instead plumps for a spot of self-love: ‘I cut off Charlie, I told him I was sorry (yeah), Then there was Michael, He just wasn’t my type, though, There was Ethan, He wanted something deeper (yeah), I had to leave them, I think I found a keeper. It’s Me, Myself and I.’

Opening track I Just Came To Dance is very much this album’s scenesetter with good times prominent yet a break-up and heartbreak imminent as the upcoming Bitch With A Broken Heart offers.

The music is very contemporary in a style that Radio One would play and there’s an upbeat 80s vibe to both Somebody New and A Little Bit Sad which are of the same high standard as the hit she had before Eurovision, which also appears here, Better Days, also featuring Neiked.

Nervous (In A Good Way) contains lyrics in a contemporary and conversational style and although Eurovision may not have been for Muller she’s still worth seeking out live as she was when we saw her at Southsea’s glorious Victorious Festival in August and said: ‘Muller plays her big pre-Eurovision hit Better Days and reminds in this main Common Stage slot why her debut album Sorry I’m Late is definitely 1 of our reasons to be excited for next month.’

Reportedly, Mae’s film career is taking off which means that her headline tour including a gig at London’s Camden Roundhouse that we were supposed to be seeing this November has been cancelled. 

Whatever Muller’s future holds, she should be proud that she’s co-written a debut album that’s full of wit and brilliant songwriting making it 1 of the year’s best longplayers.

• Main picture via Facebook courtesy Mae Muller Tickets
• Have you ever see Mae Muller or heard any of her songs? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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