Mae Powell – ‘Making Room for the Light’ album review: A sleek, timeless sketch for summer
Citing something as a ‘summer album’ is an arguably overused trope within music journalism and discussion. It is usually attached to light, airy, and optimistic records that fit with long, sun-soaked days. In that sense, Mae Powell’s newly released sophomore album is a prime candidate for a ‘summer’ album, but that simplistic tag does little to capture the timeless beauty of her material.
Reportedly, Making Room for the Light is largely derived from Canadian summers, surrounded by nature and pastoral beauty. In fact, those themes are evident right from the outset of the record, with opener ‘Tangerine’ tinged with sunshine and the understated beauty of the natural world. Powell is adept at avoiding being overbearing, and there are points on this record where it feels as though its gentle, natural motifs are placed on equal footing with the songwriter’s wonderfully serene vocal performances.
At the same time, reducing this record to being a light-hearted jaunt through sunshine and countryside feels needlessly reductive. Once you dig beneath the surface, you will find that Making Room for the Light is an incredibly diverse, expansive, and ambitious project. Powell’s voice carries such a deep emotional weight, uplifting at points, comforting in others, and utterly heartbreaking during some of the album’s more intimate moments. That broad range of moods is further reflected in the breadth of styles and eras drawn upon over the course of the record, too.
It is difficult to pin Powell down to one particular genre or another. It would be easy to cite this record as having been influenced by country music, for instance, but then tracks like the aforementioned ‘Tangerine’ have undeniable ties to old-school R&B and soul music (in keeping with the record’s home on Karma Chief Records), while other moments on the album draw upon everything from jazz to retro-infused pop on songs like ‘Contact High’, which is a notable highlight within the tracklisting.
Yet, this blending of very disparate sounds never feels overly forced or awkward within the context of the album. Powell flows expertly from one style to another, sometimes even within the same song, and David Parry’s production style suits the record beautifully. As a result, Making Room for the Light is a pulchritudinous listening experience more than worthy of your undivided attention, even after the summer months have passed.
Defining track: ‘Contact High’
For fans of: Running through fields in slow motion during a sunset scene in a mid-2000s indie coming-of-age film.
A concluding comment from Mother Nature: “In this job, it’s easy to feel underappreciated by humanity, so I thank Mae Powell for honouring my work within this wonderful record.”
Release date: August 15th, 2025 | Producer: David Parry | Label: Karma Chief Records
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