Listen: Schematic's 'Stand' — exclusive

• Schematic is the new project from Mae singer Dave Elkins
• Schematic%27s album %22Color %28n.%29 Inside the Lines%22 is due Dec. 3
• Elkins recorded the album in Nashville%2C where he now lives

Fans of Mae will hear a lot to like in Dave Elkins' new project, Schematic.

Schematic's Stand, premiering at USA TODAY, boasts the earnest lyrics and familiar yet challenging melodies associated with Mae, Elkins' main musical outlet from 2003 to 2010. Mae released four albums and a handful of B-sides during that time, hitting the top 40 of the Billboard albums chart with 2007's Singularity. The group went on an indefinite hiatus in 2010, though it reassembled to play three 10th-anniversary shows in February.

Stand comes from the album Color (n.) Inside the Lines, due Dec. 3 on Spartan Records. Elkins began writing the song on Mae's final tour, as he and his wife dealt with the emotional upheaval of relocating from Virginia to Nashville. Even though he accomplished a lot with Mae, he says, "when you're in Nashville, everyone's an aspiring musician or has had some success." Stand is a message the two of them, "me, especially, finding my way here in town and finding the confidence to focus on what's going to be ahead and getting there the right way."

"You could just stand if you wanted to, so open up your eyes," Elkins sings in the song's chorus. "If you only knew my love for you, you could stand if you wanted to.

Musically, Stand is deceptively complex, with an accessible melody written over changing time signatures. The song's verses are built primarily on six patterns, while the chorus shifts to a straight-ahead four. "I was trying to play with that six pattern and make you feel like you could bob your head and feel good without thinking about the rhythms," Elkins says.

Elkins fascination with odd time signatures grew out from his musician father's fondness for paraphrasing a passage from the biblical book of Ecclesiastes, saying, "There's nothing new under the sun, musically." Elkins took the statement as a personal challenge. As he learned to write music of his own, he says, "I would try to keep it familiar and anticipated but throw something in there that you couldn't find elsewhere in the musical world."

Elkins raised the money to recorded Color (n.) Inside the Lines through an IndieGoGo crowdfunding campaign earlier this year. Schematic began as a solo project, he says, but as he got into the album's creation, "I reminded myself that I moved to Nashville for a reason, and I was surrounded by extremely talented musicians and writers." Elkins wound up writing songs with Mae's Mark Padgett and Anberlin's Stephen Christian. The album includes guest spots from Jeremy Lutito of Leagues and Chase Lawrence of Coin.

"The collaborative effort is something I miss," Elkins says. "Since finishing the record, I've been a little more in pursuit of getting around people that want to do writing and are interested in collaborating on the spot."