Sophie May

Sophie May came to songwriting through spoken word: the South London guitarist began writing slam poems at 13, and the habit carried over into her songs. Her reference points run from Amy Winehouse and Alex Turner, whose Submarine soundtrack showed her how lyrics could be written, to Laura Marling, Jeff Buckley and Leonard Cohen. Pub nights came first, then lockdown clips and demos on TikTok that built an audience of more than 200,000.

Her debut single "With the Band" arrived in April 2022 and passed a million streams; the EP You Do Not Have to be Good, named after a Mary Oliver poem, followed in August through Psychic Music. Worst Thoughts in the World (2023) reunited her with Matt Maltese and Spector's Fred Macpherson, and the mini-album Half-Songs came that October. Deep Sea Creatures in 2024 included "Tiny Dictator", drawn from her OCD, and "Brian Cox", featuring the physicist himself. A double vinyl of her first two EPs gave her a first UK chart entry, on the physical albums list. She toured Europe with Searows, then Australia with Maltese before headlining, and her debut album Stars and Teeth followed in 2026.