Marking the announcement of a self-titled debut EP on 30th October via Foundation.fm, there is nothing that isn’t fun in new single from London-based alt-popster MAY.
With an implied level of giggles and mischief that can only be compared to messing about at the back of the classroom with your bestie stifling some outrageous laughter to avoid getting caught, ‘Cynthia’ provides a gleeful escape towards an irreverent vision of normality, where everything is the same but still you’re hopelessly happy.
Offering a lyric that dictates how “freedom and fantasy can be found within the practice of our domestic everyday routines,” most affecting here – and most ear-worming – is its quiet but compelling sense of invention. Swaggering trap snares, auto-tunes and layered harmonies; synth-slides into tricksy, elastic structures, and an ethereal harp breakdown; it all coalesces to absorb and captivate, without ever getting too smug.
There’s an appropriately quirked-up music video too that adds to the insane levels of charm on show. Directed by MAY herself, here we have five versions of her doing various everyday tasks – pointing at a whiteboard, tumbling about in a bubble bath, being whimsical on a swing. Tag yourself I’m person writing at desk.
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