Sweat You Out My System is out now!
Image: Sarah Eiseman.
Rising Australian artist MAY-A has returned with her new single, Sweat You Out My System. To celebrate the release, the singer has shared with MILKY five albums that shaped her artistry throughout 2022.
Ushering in a new era for MAY-A, the track leans into 70's rock and 2000's garage influences, pushing up against the singers established indie-pop sound. MAY-A's dynamic vocals stomp above propulsive percussion and engaging guitar work as she navigates moving on from a past flame that draws her back in like an addiction.
“Sweat You Out My System is pretty up-front lyrically, it plays on the idea of being completely addicted to someone; ‘Missing you like a little kid/ waiting for you to get back/I wish for you in my veins/so addicted it’s insane’. The whole song stays on theme of the feeling of trying to ‘quit’ someone (hence - sweating them out like drugs), because f**k going back!” MAY-A shares of the single.
The track arrives off the back of an incredible year for the Australian artist, which kicked off with the release of her ARIA nominated collaboration with Flume, Say Nothing. MAY-A went on to tour North America and Australia with Flume, appearing alongside him at festivals including Coachella and Governors Ball. She capped off the year supporting 5 Seconds of Summer on their Australian headline tour, before taking to the stage at Falls Festival and Lost Paradise.
<COPINGMECHANISM> - WILLOW
To me this album feels like a really cool metal/rock musical. You can hear WILLOW experimenting with different elements throughout the album, each song bouncing off the next. It really feels like you can hear her and Chris Greatti's musical and personal relationship flowering the further you get into the listening experience. It is a tastemaker, artist-shaping, career defining album. The dark tones, the vocal layers, it truly feels unapologetic and doubtless. It definitely reminded me to not be scared to do whatever the fuck you want creatively, WILLOW has been on a long musical journey, venturing into many different genres, with a plethora of concept albums up her sleeve, each different from the last, she continues to inspire me to break my own creative expectations.
CRY - CIGARETTES AFTER SEX
If you were looking for the perfect wind down, head-out-window, slow dancing, deep sigh of an album, this is it. For me, the sonics trigger a really intense hybrid of deep gratitude and sadness. But that lighter kind of sadness. I've never felt more reminiscent than putting this record on, like I've lived a thousand other lives before this one.
FRIENDS - OMAR APOLLO
I love this EP because I can hear elements of what 'Omar Apollo' has become in his success now, yet you can hear the sliding-door moments- the glimpses of the direction he could've gone in- the artist he could've ended up being. This collection of songs feel different from each other in a good way. I see a lot of myself within 'friends'. I think my next body of work sits in the same place - timeline and experimentation wise- for me as this did for him. You can hear the vast range of different influences and genres he was playing around with. It makes me feel comforted and validated in my own artistry.
TEA FOR THE TILLERMAN - YUSUF/CAT STEVENS
This album isn't specifically held in the confines of the last year for me, it's a life-long, human-shaping album. I'd listened to'Tea for the Tillerman' before I knew how to speak and it's one of the albums that I continue to grow with. I'm not sure I even know what this sounds like anymore because it's so intertwined with a life of memories. I put this on whenever I feel homesick. Whenever this is playing, it feels easier to settle into new places or come to terms with being away. You really have a piece of home with you anywhere.
YOU CAN'T KILL ME - 070 SHAKE
'You Can't Kill Me' was a game changing album for me in 2022. It took everything I thought I knew about song structure, vocal delivery and the creative process in general and threw it out the window. A healthy mixture of listening to 070 and Thom Yorke I began to start manipulating my voice when recording songs and it opened a floodgate of ideas that felt like they'd been sitting there for years, but I just wasn't able to access. I listened to this album at the end of a 3-month-long songwriting trip, right as I got home I knew I had to scrap everything that I'd done and start again. I knew that I needed to tap into a different direction. 070 Shake reminded me that there are truly no rules in music, you're just too far in a comfort zone.
Sweat You Out My System is out now!