Abbe May

Overview

"Abbe May plays a scorching guitar — she is the f***ing s**t!"
-Nic Harcout, MTV USA

Still riding high after the tremendous success of 2011's Design Desire, one of Australia's most criminally under-appreciated artists is back with a brand-new album. And she's launching it by way of a national tour, heading to every state to seduce you firsthand. Or maybe punch you in the face. Or maybe even seduce you by punching you in the face.

Abbe May might come from a tiny coastal town in the very southwest of WA, but over the course of four records she has built herself up to the precipice of world domination. Her last album was nominated for the Australian Music Prize and was roundly praised by nearly every person with ears who heard it, its dark, gnarly guitars oozing sultriness, her voice shining in the darkness like a switchblade at midnight.

But May promises surprises on her new album, abandoning the '70s-psych influence of Design Desire in favour of "synth-driven doom pop". As May herself declares, "Kiss My Apocalypse is unashamedly sexual and would almost be romantic if it weren't for the vitriol."

"Pop is sexy when done well and it's incredibly difficult to do it well if you try too hard," she says. "We wanted to get away from music that took itself too seriously. I'm so tired of this whole shoe gaze, it-cost-a-lot-of-money-to get-a-haircut-that-looks-like-I-haven't-brushed-my-hair-in-months type shit. 'Artists' in denial that they are basically just entertainers. Being an entertainer is more meaningful if you ask me. It's not such a selfish pursuit."

For almost any other artist, a major shift in sound away from the most successful album of your career would be a death sentence, crippling you just as you were poised to make a real splash. But Abbe May isn't just any artist. And when you consider that her first two albums drew heavily from (a) Deep South devil blues, then (b) Hawaiian-inspired rockabilly, a fourth major shift on her fourth album could be just what we were all waiting for.