Sophie May
Let me try and do this in a concise way,” indie-folk singer-songwriter Sophie May laughs as she contemplates her biggest achievements of the last three years. “I mean… just so much has changed, even just internally. It’s felt like such a journey, in a sense of gradual growth and milestones – which I’m really grateful for…” she pauses, and laughs again. “Did that answer your question?”
It’s understandable that the 26-year-old south Londoner has a hard time summing up her journey so far. When NME first spoke to her in 2022, she had just scored viral success on TikTok with the release of her airily candid single ‘Lover Boy’, which took her from making music alone in her bedroom to being praised by Billie Eilish, confronting her nerves around performing and collaborating in studios with others. Since then, she has toured alongside Searows and Matt Maltese, collaborated with synthstar-turned-scientist Professor Brian Cox, and landed a writing credit on one of NME’s top albums of 2025, Rosalía’s ‘Lux’.
“It’s been a lot of confidence-building to get to a point where I’m like, ‘OK, I’m ready to make an album’, for the first time in my life,” she says. “And I guess that’s all just attributed to just doing it and learning along the way.”
May’s creative output, as well as technical skill and knowledge, has expanded with each of the three EPs she’s released so far. “I felt like my mind was blown after each project, thinking, ‘How could I not have known this before?!’, whether that meant being a better songwriter or learning more production tips.” Her debut album – the 11-track ‘Stars And Teeth’, due for release in March – is a natural accumulation of her work to this point. The Carole King-like melodies and Joni Mitchell-esque lyrics of her earlier work are still there, but its dynamism is in its lyrical and sonic textures – a mixture of indie folk pop and romantic bossa nova feel. May excels in writing sincere, thoughtful lyrics and accompanying them with celestial sounds and dramatic production; think The Ronettes, Olivia Dean, or Celeste. —NME
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