Caught in The “Analysis Paralysis” Loop: MAY-A’s New EP Pushes the Boundaries on Creativity
Photo Credit: Jordan Kirk
Australian singer-songwriter MAY-A recently released her new EP, “Analysis Paralysis”. If you've been following her music journey, you might recognize her from her electrifying collaboration with Australian electronic superstar Flume on "Say Nothing (Feat. MAY-A)." This EP promises to be a musical journey filled with captivating tracks that showcase MAY-A's unique talent and creative evolution.
Pop Nerd Lounge catches up with MAY-A to find out more about her new album “Analysis Paralysis” and here’s what she has to say.
Congratulations on the release of Analysis Paralysis. I love the name by the way! How did you come up with it?
Thank you! I was actually surfing an ADHD symptoms website hahah (no surprises here I was diagnosed a few days later) and that was one of the subheadings. I thought it represented every part of my life at that point, including the music-creation process. Wanting things to be so right that you over think each decision to the point of not being able to make any decisions.
Before we get into more of the EP, congrats as well on finishing the Aussie/NZ leg of tour! What do you think was the song that the crowd vibed with the most?
Thank you again! I loved that tour, it really was so affirming -and awesome to see all of these people face-to-face. When we were touring a large amount of the EP actually wasn’t out yet so it was pretty awesome to see everybody’s live reaction to “ifyoulikeitlikethat” off the EP. It feels a lot more heavy and intense live, so it was kind of funny to start screaming into a distorted mic and the crowd getting really into it- but can’t sing along. It was awesome.
Your music often resonates with fans on a personal level especially when I was reading the Harper’s Bazaar page where female fans would come up to you being in awe of your stage presence (to be fair, so am I). Have you ever had a particularly touching or unusual fan interaction during your tour/in general that stands out in your memory?
Just having a conversation in general with anybody that is a listener of your music and takes the time to understand you, or feels understood by you is a crazy thing. it’s so easy to get lost in criticising your work and when someone is standing in front of you telling you it changed a part of their life or made a hard situation better, it’s a lot harder to tear that work apart, because it’s someone else’s now. That’s really grounding and beautiful .
The narrative woven into your EP is intriguing. Could you share the message you aimed to convey through "Analysis Paralysis," and did you structure the tracks in a deliberate manner to bring this story to life?
All the songs written felt very stream of consciousness and they were a lot clearer thematically when I could look at them all layed out. The songs are definitely ordered in of light to dark, feeling wise, sound wise and concept wise and I really like that about this project
Can you delve into the stories behind your two new tracks, "If You Like It Like That" and "Superior Liar"? What do these songs mean to you?
“Ifyoulikeitlikethat” feels very tongue-in-cheek to me, the idea of ‘maybe the bad thing isn’t so bad if it makes me feel good’ like many things in our lives, kind of playing on that addiction trope that seems to have weaved it’s way through a few of these songs. It was a very therapeutic way to get that angry energy out. We all have something we’ll indulge in regardless of consequences.
“Superior liar” was really a vessel to try out different sounds and be really melodramatic. I was a bit obsessed with soundtracks during the creation of this song and I think it reflects pretty clearly when you listen to it back. Superior liar was the right level of experimenting with what I’d learned from playing live shows whilst still feeling like me.
How do you think you’ve grown musically as an artist since the release of Don’t Kiss Ur Friends up till Analysis Paralysis?
I’ve grown so much, ‘Don’t Kiss Ur Friends’ was a recorded process of me learning about my queerness, about my femininity, about my first relationship, about bridging that gap between teenage-hood and adulthood and at the core of it, I was just learning how to write, how to structure songs and how to write lyrics. The progression into Analysis Paralysis was more about me learning how to convey the darker emotions (which I think I’ve only grazed slightly) It was the beginning of me starting to get really into reading musicians biographies, studying time periods of music and scenes and sound and the way that different gear can completely change the sound and feeling and intention of the track. All things I’d never considered. I was more focused on saying things with words, not with the sound. I think I’ve only just begun to open that box.
With the growth that you’ve had, what do you think is next for your music? Might there be a possibility for a world tour in the future?
Oh I hope so, I think I’ll have to see where I get with the next project. I’m excited to keep touring, keep creating and making videos, and really sit with myself for a moment and find what it is I really want to say with this next body of work.
MAY-A who supported 5 Seconds of Summer on their recent Australian headline tour and joined Wallows on the UK/EU leg of their landmark Tell Me That It’s Over World Tour, earning praise by DORK as “an artist bringing all their anticipated hype to life” – will next join Post Malone, Latto, and an array of other stars on Australia’s Spilt Milk festival tour, visiting Gold Coast, Ballarat, and Perth in late November/early December.
OCTOBER
9 – Orlando, FL – House of Blues
12 – Fort Worth, TX – Tannahill’s Tavern & Music Hall
16 – Nashville, TN – Marathon Music Works
18 – Raleigh, NC – The Ritz
19 – Norfolk, VA – The NorVa
20 – Wallingford, CT – The Dome
23 – Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom
24 – Baltimore, MD – Rams Head Live
27 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE
28 – Newport, KY – MegaCorp Pavilion
29 – Columbus, OH – KEMBA Live
31 – Milwaukee, WI – The Rave
NOVEMBER
1 – St. Louis, MO – The Pageant
3 – Fort Collins, CO – The Aggie
4 – Boulder, CO – Boulder Theater
7 – Las Vegas, NV – House of Blues
8 – San Diego, CA – Observatory North Park
10 – Anaheim, CA – House of Blues Anaheim
13 – San Jose, CA – San Jose Civic
15 – Seattle, WA – Showbox SODO
16 – Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom
* ALL DATES WITH NESSA BARRETT CHURCH CLUB FOR THE LONELY TOUR
Editor’s Note: Knowing MAY-A and her will to push herself as an artist to challenge the norms and the messages she weaves into her artistry, I am so excited to see what she’s going to do next.