10 Things We Love About Ego Ella May

British-Nigerian, award-winning singer-songwriter and musician Ego Ella May announces her sophomore  album, Good Intentions. 

Set for release on 20th March, Ella May shares that “it’s quite an eclectic record, which I’m very excited about.  It’s got a lot of different styles.” In conversation with Ego Ella May, she reflects on creating from a place of good  intentions, her love of music, and being more open to collaboration with musicians. 

Ego Ella May describes the 12-track album, Good Intentions, as the result of a residential studio stay with her  band. Over the course of a few days, they were “just jamming the whole time, coming up with songs.” 

Welcoming this new chapter, New Wave spoke with Ego Ella May about her sophomore album, musical  influences, acoustic performances, and the impact she strives to create through her art. Here are 10 things we  love about Ego Ella May. 

1. We love your jazz-rooted sound. 

Being named after Ella Fitzgerald carries a lot of musical history — can you remember your first introduction to  jazz music and the ways in which early jazz influences have inspired your sound? 

“My love of jazz started when I was, I want to say, ten or eleven. I grew up listening to all kinds of music and I did  have a lot of Ella Fitzgerald records in the house, Billie Holiday, and Sarah Vaughan. I never really listened to  them, until one day I put this Ella Fitzgerald record on. And, I just fell in love with her phrasing, her diction, the  scatting, all of that. It was so new to me and, so interesting, that it became a bit of an obsession that I tried to  copy. I just thought it was such a beautiful style of music, really unique and so flexible and free. Also, just  listening to jazz standards just means there’s so many ways to interpret a song. I always just found that so cool,  like how many different versions there were of the same song. But how different all these jazz artists made  them.” 

2. We love how your sound continues to evolve. 

Good Intentions continues to lean further into jazz and orchestration — are there any new textures or directions  you’ve been exploring that you’re excited to share? 

“With this one, I tried to make it more collaborative with the musicians, whereas with the first album, it was a lot  more producer-heavy. Me just working with one producer in a room, and just the two of us coming up with these  sounds together. 

Whereas this album I started with my band, so we went away to a residential studio and we stayed there for four  or five days. We were just jamming the whole time; coming up with songs, eating together, going on walks, just  chilling out making music. It was such a beautiful way to start this project. There wasn’t any pressure. It wasn't  like we had to make this album in five days but it was just nice to start off ideas that way. 

At the core it’s like jazz, but I think it's also got a lot of other influences as well. I think that came from us just  experimenting and seeing what comes up.”

3. We love the singles you’ve already shared from the album (‘What We Do’, ‘We’re Not Free’, and ‘What You  Waiting For’). 

What made those songs feel like the right introduction to this new era, and how do they set the tone for the wider  story of the album? 

“I always knew that ‘What We Do’ would be the first single because it was so vibey, and so fun. I feel like it was  such a new side of me, a very playful, fun side. I’m used to doing such mellow tunes, with a whole bunch of  meaning whereas, this one I was working with someone I’ve worked with on music for like eleven years now. So,  that was really cool, to do something that we still felt was fresh, even for us. And, the subject matter was so chill,  like I’m just missing my partner. 

It was kind of scary because I was like I don’t think it’s deep enough, but then I was like, no, it doesn’t have to be. To be honest, I’m relieved because I also want to challenge myself to release something where I don’t think it  has this crazy meaning, it’s just a fun song. I haven’t really had the chance to do that so, that’s why that one  came out. 

Obviously, I had to follow it up with a deep song, so ‘We’re Not Free’. Then the latest one ‘What You Waiting  For’, again, it’s got a deeper meaning but the production is still really fun. 

I wanted to play all the different sounds on this album, and give people a taste of what it is and what’s coming.” 

4. We love how self-reflective your music feels. 

Your songs often sound like conversations with yourself — how important is self-reflection in your writing  process? 

“A lot of it is not to do with music. It’s walking, yoga, journalling, baking, or seeing friends and having  conversations. All of these things spark creativity. 

“It’s very important to me, I’m like a super introvert, so I have a lot of time where I just spend on my own  gathering my thoughts. I feel like it works really well for me to get them out in music. 

What’s been really nice, is that a lot of the things that I think I’m really alone in, in my thought process — if I write  a song about it, I realise when it’s released — the amount of people that say it’s so relatable or that they thought  they were the only ones going through this. I’m like oh my gosh, so cool. It just makes me feel less alone, but at  the same time I need to be alone to even conjure up these thoughts.” 

5. We love hearing you sing about social consciousness, love, and the complexities of modern life.

How do you create space to share freely without holding back? 

The people that I work with, I’ve been working with for years. It makes such a huge difference, because of that  you build up this natural comfortability around them. Or, I feel like I can experiment more. When we’re recording  some of these songs I’m really trying to push myself vocally as well, and the amount of times I have to be  comfortable with doing a bum note even, like it not working out.

I’ve been in some situations, with some studios, where me and this so-and-so get together and it’s the first time  we’re in the room together and we’re expected to make a hit or be vulnerable with each other. It’s just kind of  hard to get in a room with someone and be expected to make magic, to write about this beautiful thing, or  heartbreak. I struggle with it. I feel like that kind of stuff takes a lot of time.  

So, I really appreciate that I’ve managed to work with people that I have worked with for a long time and we build on the connection, right. I think that’s very important. 

6. We love how intentional Good Intentions feels. 

As you move into your sophomore album, what feels different about the headspace or life chapter you’re creating  from this time around? 

“My intentions for this album were completely pure, they were to make music that I was really proud of, with my  friends. My intention is that it will reach who it needs to reach. In this ever-changing industry, where it can feel so  gimmicky at times, and it’s all about numbers; it’s all about your follower count, and all that stuff. I’m just trying  not to think about that. My intention is to just release good music and hope for the best, not get caught up in the  numbers game. That’s why I called it Good Intentions as my reminder of why I’m even releasing this music. 

Ella May spoke of operating from a space of “alignment and gratitude, and sheer love of music. Before anything,  I am a fan of music. I am an avid listener of music, I love music. So, that’s where I’m leaning into and that’s  where I’m creating from. Like I said, I’m not trying to be like, ‘this song’s a hit so let’s make 20 more of these  songs that sound exactly the same’. That’s not going to happen.” 

7. We love the emotional clarity within your writing across Good Intentions, especially on singles such as ‘Love is  a Heavy Thing’, ‘Good Intentions’, and ‘Don’t Take My Lover Away’. 

Has working on Good Intentions challenged your willingness to express vulnerability in your music, and if so, was  having no features on this album, and choosing to stand alone as a solo artist a way of leaving space for that?

To be honest I’m probably used to it by now, I’ve always been pretty vulnerable in my music. It doesn’t come  hard to me. 

If there is something that is too much, I just won’t release it. There are some songs that I simply just keep for me,  and it’s more of just a diary thing. Ultimately, I have the choice of whether I want to release it or not. If I do, I have  to be okay with people hearing me that way and hopefully, it helps other people.  

I’ll do it if I feel like it’s for the greater cause of humanity. 

In the past I have tried to do duets, I just don’t think it really works for me, for some reason. I do have, it’s not  necessarily features, but I do have additional vocals on two tracks on the album. One is from Rosie Lowe, who’s  an incredible singer in her own right, an incredible artist. That track is called ‘Hold On’, and she just sings this  really beautiful chorus. Then on the bridge of ‘Good Intentions’, the single, I’ve got J Warner singing that. That  was just an idea that I came up with, but I really wanted a male voice to do it instead. So, I sent it to him and then  he vocalled it and I was like perfect. So, I don’t know, I just felt like that was enough. I wanted it to be intentional.

8. We love the balance between the softness of your voice and the strength in your lyrics.

Which of the 12 songs was the most challenging to create? 

“‘Tarot’ was hard song to sing, because it is quite stripped back with a lot of beautiful strings. I guess I just  wanted to do the instrumentation justice, so I found it really challenging to sing that. It was also quite sparse. It  had a lot of space for me to be vulnerable with my voice. 

Probably ‘We’re Not Free’, I think was quite nervous about that because there's a lot, I'm saying in that. Things  that people may not necessarily agree with, but I just needed to get it out, so whatever. I don’t feel like I’ve gotten  any backlash, so that’s good. But I was a bit nervous for that.” 

9. We love hearing you perform acoustically, and we know you have in-store shows at Rough Trade locations  across the UK following Good Intentions. 

How does that kind of stripped-back yet expansive setting change the way you experience the music? 

“I think it’s a really good way to highlight the actual lyrics. When the songs are quite full, instrumentally, I can  sometimes feel a bit lost when it’s a full band. So, I have to really work on that with the band, but it always ends  up, of course, being amazing.  

With these stripped-back ones, usually I’m just working with a keys player, or a guitarist, and then it’s just me  singing vocals. So, you don't get as lost. So, I’m excited to do those, and it’ll be nice to talk about the music  more, explain the songs more, and have it be a more intimate vibe. 

There’s something about a full band show where you hear the music as it was intended. I feel like those are the  most powerful shows for me, especially because I then get to work with the band that created most of the songs.  I don’t do those shows enough, so I’m looking forward to doing more shows like that too. What I’m saying is they  

both have their place. I enjoy both, because when you do the intimate shows the crowd is more receptive and  quieter, and that’s always good. 

10. We love how timeless your music feels. 

When you’re creating, are you thinking about legacy and longevity, or capturing a specific moment in your life? 

“Kind of both. Definitely when I’m creating, I’m not thinking about how this is going to sound in 20, 30 years. I’m  thinking about how it feels to me right now. So, in that sense it’s definitely being in the moment. 

But I’m also not trying to be too in the moment, in the music industry, because it is in absolute shambles. I don’t  care for the streaming count, the follow count, or all of that kind of stuff. Or feel like I have to do this trend  because it’s of the moment and I need to be more on trend I don’t want to be like that. So, in that sense I think to  myself, will this matter in 20 to 30 years? Probably not. Does this feel real for me? Probably not, then I’m not  going to do it. Because, I do think about longevity in that sense, where it shouldn’t be about trends and jumping  on this latest dance. That’s not what I care for. So, it’s a bit of both.”

Ego Ella May’s new album Good Intentions is out 20th March. 

She will perform at Rough Trade East, London (20th March), Rough Trade Nottingham (24th March), and Rough  Trade Liverpool (25th March).