23 year old one to watch Sophie May has today announced her debut EP You Do Not Have To Be Good – out 5 August – and has shared a new single ‘Drop In The Ocean’ taken from it.
The You Do Not Have To Be Good EP is Sophie’s first longform offering, following the release of AA-side singles ‘With The Band’ / ‘Bruises & Scratches’ and ‘Bad Man’ / ‘High Life’ this year.
Explaining the meaning behind ‘Drop In The Ocean’, Sophie says: “‘Drop In The Ocean’ evolved from a weird interaction with someone I thought I knew well. They felt their problems were more important than anyone else’s. The title is a direct quote, dismissing other people’s issues, including my own, as “a drop in the ocean” compared to their own.”
Commenting on the You Do Not Have To Be Good EP, Sophie says: “‘You do not have to be good’ is a quote from one of my favourite poems ‘Wild Geese’ by Mary Oliver. I feel it encapsulates the guilt that comes with questioning if you’re a good person. Each track on the EP explores elements of what is ‘good’ or ‘bad’, when often life is filled with grey areas and perfection is impossible. Ultimately it’s ok to accept that you don’t always have to be ‘good’.”
Sophie May’s AA-side releases have precipitated a huge spread of support at national press from the likes of NME (where she featured as a ‘First On’ artist, drawing comparisons to classic songwriters like Joni Mitchell and Carole King, and modern talents like Sam Fender and Wet Leg), The FADER, Bricks Magazine, Hunger Magazine, Spindle Magazine, The Line Of Best Fit, Dork, and more. Jack Saunders at BBC Radio 1, Steve Lamacq at BBC Radio 6 Music, and Jess Iszatt at BBC London / Introducing have also provided swathes of support at UK radio.
Sophie has a hugely dedicated online following, finding fans in megastars like Billie Eilish (who has commented on her TikTok videos) and Celeste (who reached out to Sophie and the two have since worked together in the studio). Sophie has also been writing new music with Luca Buccellati who produced Arlo Parks’ Mercury Prize winning debut Collapsed In Sunbeams. Sophie May has already accumulated over 180k monthly listeners on Spotify with over 1M combined streams in just a few months.
Sophie May currently has over 200k followers on TikTok (where she was selected as part of their latest ‘Unsigned’ campaign featuring on billboards across major UK cities), 90k followers on Instagram, an accumulated 800k streams across demo snippets on Soundcloud, and over 1000+ superfans on her active Discord server. Sophie May also released a second edition photo / lyric book after the first edition of 100 completely sold out