Eurovision’s Mae Muller says Scotland is ‘place dear to my heart’

Mae Muller has described Scotland as a “place dear to my heart”.

The London-born singer often escapes north and even has a tattoo of a Tunnock’s Teacake on her left leg.

“That’s how much I love them,” she laughed. “I love coming to Scotland. You guys know how to party for sure.

“I used to do New Year’s Eve in Edinburgh. I’ve done it three or four times. I love walking up Calton Hill. It’s such a beautiful place.”

While Mae doesn’t have Scots roots she and her mum, Nicola Jackson, visit Scotland regularly.

The singer said: “It’s a stunning, fun place and I was there recently for my mum’s birthday in January.

“We just wanted an excuse to go away and have a little girl’s trip.”

Mae, 26, can’t wait to be back in Scotland again soon when she has a meet and greet event at Church, Dundee, tomorrow, with a Q&A and acoustic performances of songs from her debut album, Sorry, I’m Late which is out now.

She said: “I’ve been to Glasgow a bunch of times on tour and love it but it’s nice to go somewhere different.”

Chatting via Zoom, Mae has bounced back after the bitter blow of coming second last in the Eurovision voting for her UK entry, I Wrote A Song.

She admitted: “I gave myself a day to be disappointed and to feel like my life was over and then I said, ‘Cool, we move on to the next thing’ because that’s how I survive.”

Many would have crumbled and gone to live in a cave for a year after such a public letdown. Mae was also trolled on social media after the event held in Liverpool instead of Ukraine, which won in 2022.

Mae explained how she shrugged off the dismay.

She said: “I’m not a good dweller. Obviously there was no escaping it and I was disappointed, but I focus on the positive.

“I had an album ready to go and focusing on that really helped.

“And I had all this newfound love and support which carried me through the whole experience. I’m so thankful for it.

“The reason I did Eurovision was to connect with people and that’s what happened.

“We were in Madrid at the start of September. We came out and there were people with signs and people knew the words. There was a lovely warm reception and I thought it was all worth it.”

The singer took special notice of Lewis Capaldi who quit performing live after suffering a devastating Tourette’s attack during his Glastonbury show in June.

She said: “Coming from a man it was really, really important.

“I sing about the pressures women are put under but men also have pressures put on them: put up or shut up, you’re the man you don’t speak about your feelings.

“Lewis putting it out there in such a human way was really quite amazing.

“He did what he needed to do for himself and him just doing that showed millions of people that it’s OK to do so for yourself too. It was really brave.

“The amount of support he got would be really reassuring to a lot of people.

“He should take all the time he needs and he definitely has his fanbase and if not more people welcoming him with open arms when he’s ready.”

While she knows how to write a party tune, Mae’s new album also has a depth not seen in British pop since Lily Allen’s songs like Not Fair or The Fear.

On Mae’s Porn Lied she focuses on sexual pressures.

She said: “A lot of the pressure I put on myself. I’ve ingested all this stuff from the outside world about what a woman should do and how I’m meant to perform and it’s not a performance at all.

“It’s meant to be the most intimate moment you can have but I feel so exposed and feel like I’m being judged and on stage.”

On the track Miss America the pressure she comments on is of not living up to the beauty standard put out there on social media and magazines.

She explained: “There’s a lot of guilt that comes from getting older as a woman. Your body is changing, you might not be as fit as you used to be and not in the career you want.”

Mae may be adding to the debate about millennials and the damage social media can do but she also likes a laugh.

Breathe was written five years ago and is the oldest track on the album, hence its title, Sorry, I’m Late, which came to her after people began asking about its release date.

And while MTJL (Maybe That’s Just Life) was written three years ago she feels it could have been how she felt after Eurovision.

She said: “It’s so pertinent to me now.

“The lyrics are about things not going to plan and how can I pick myself up?”

Mae, who made her showbiz debut aged nine in 2007 in the music video for Mika’s Grace Kelly, makes her first movie appearance in thriller Gassed Up next year and hopes it could lead her back to Scotland.

She said: “It would be a dream to get to act in a period drama set in Edinburgh.

“I love wearing a corset on stage but I don’t know how long I could wear one.”

● Mae’s Sorry, I’m Late is out now. Her Church Dundee Q&A album launch event is tomorrow.