Photo by Ruth Medjber.
Elaine Mai’s latest album, For Us, is a sonic journey that explores intergenerational trauma, belonging and release in equal measure. The Irish electronic artist did not intentionally set out to create an album that touched on such heavy themes. Instead, she focused her energy on one riff—a single melody that recurs throughout the album.
With that musical motif in mind, Mai spent three years writing, creating and collaborating with other artists, including MuRli, Faye O’Rourke, MayKay and Sinéad White. The end result is her second studio album, a musical odyssey that is deeply cathartic in its navigation of trauma. This practice of collaboration, Mai says, was the most satisfying aspect of creating For Us.
“It would arguably be easier to just be like, ‘I’ve finished this, and it’s an instrumental thing, and it’s done’, but the really challenging and rewarding part is working with other people and then getting to see their reaction, and then how it takes the album in a different direction,” she says.
“It was probably two years ago when I had the guys in the studio and recorded all of this stuff and it felt really powerful.
“The work that they had done was just so great and I have to do it justice. I was thinking about what goes where, and what’s the narrative I can pull together.”
With its heavy themes and navigation of trauma, it is not surprising to hear that global events—chiefly the genocide in Gaza—had an impact on the album. But the Palestinian people didn’t just serve as inspiration for Mai, they are part of the album itself. The eighth track, ‘We Are’, sees Mai collaborate with MayKay, Faye O’Rourke, and some of the young people from the Lajee Centre in the Occupied West Bank, a community-based grassroots cultural centre that works with young Palestinians.
“MayKay had volunteered over in Palestine and in the Lajee Centre in particular,” Mai says. “She had done some songwriting workshops, and at the time we were also working with The Ark theatre here in Ireland. We were kind of talking about how maybe we could do something with the kids in Palestine, and I was thinking about how I could put a track together. At that time, I was writing material for the album, and it all just came together and fell into place. For us, it felt like a privilege to give their voices that kind of platform.”
Mai’s advocacy does not begin and end with ‘We Are’. It’s a cause she intends to take with her in her upcoming performances.
“When we made the track, we knew we were going to be playing it at festivals throughout the country,” she says. “We’re going to be amplifying their voices. That just felt like something we should do, and we’re in a privileged position to do it.”
As For Us hits the charts, Mai is busy preparing and looking ahead to the biggest performance of her career, a headline show at Dublin’s Button Factory on October 25 to officially launch the album.
“I’m really excited for it because a lot of the guests from the album will be joining me,” she says. “I’ve got Fay O’Rourke, MayKay, MuRli, and Sinéad White. It’s just going to be a party. I’ve taken a leaf out of Daithí’s book. He’s a good friend of mine, and he’s very passionate about just marking this thing that you have done for yourself. To be like, ‘That’s done now, and let’s celebrate it a little bit and have a bit of fun with it’. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Elaine Mai’s album For Us is out now. Catch her headline show at the Button Factory in Dublin on October 25; tickets are on sale now.