“I’m actually not
afraid of failing, I’m not afraid of people disliking what I do,” West
Australian vocal powerhouse Abbe May says, a smile not far off. “I’m also not afraid of succeeding, and I’m
not afraid of people liking what I
do.”
It’s this simple
yet effective ethos behind everything May does, that defines her as an artist,
one who is want to change on a whim, on a dime, heading off down her own path
and to hell with the consequences. Case
in point, ‘Karmageddon’, the new single from her forthcoming record, Kiss My Apocalypse – it’s a track which
is quintessentially Abbe May, but it’s nothing you’ve heard from her prior to
this; a move away from even her last release, 2011’s Design, Desire.
Where before May
was a rock pig; a down and dirty blues sultress; a combination of the two and
something else entirely, ‘Karmageddon’ sees her take yet another sonic swerve
in her already varied career. This one
is dark and moody, it sweeps and sways as a lot of her music has thus far, but
this one is electronic and atmospheric, and it sees May sans guitar for the first time
– odd territory for her.
“Well, we made Design, Desire over the course of a
year, and it was quite [stressful],” she says on where this change has come
from. “Then I got this great band
together, who I’m still with, and we just played [that album] so much after
that stretch of recording, that we got bored.
“So Sam (Ford,
producer and ‘Karmageddon’ co-writer) and I spent last summer after the tour
listening to hip hop and pop. I’d force
Madonna on him, and he’d force Kanye West on me, and so we ended up loving each
other’s music and moving as far away as possible from rock ‘n’ roll. It’s a natural progression, but it was also a
conscious decision, which is how I live my life anyway – I’m consciously open
to surrendering to change.”
The result is, as
the press release states, a “drugged up Destiny’s Child recorded with
Portishead.” It still retains the darkness May has always incorporated into her
music, whether it be rock or blues, but it’s mainly the mark of an artist not
content to spend too much time in one place.
“Absolutely. As each year passes, you find yourself [moving
on],” she smiles. “And unless you’re
completely non-absorbent, then you can’t help
but change.”
Samuel J. Fell
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