Ego Ella May is a neo-soul artist from South London who has been releasing music for nearly ten years, but she has really been on a roll in the last couple of years. She released her debut full-length album, So Far, on Tru Thoughts in 2019, and she followed that up with Honey For Wounds in 2020. In October of last year, she gave us an EP called FIELDNOTES. Now she is back with a companion EP, FIELDNOTES PT II.

The great thing about an EP like FIELDNOTES PT II is that is doesn’t represent any sort of wild departure from her most recent work, but when you go back and listen to some of her earlier material, you can just hear how much she has grown over the years. This doesn’t mean that the style is wildly different, it just means that May is so much more comfortable in her own skin and confident in her singing and songwriting abilities, you can just feel from the moment you press play on this EP that she’s got this. You can just let go and trust her to guide you through these five songs. On this project, she’s working with Blue Lab Beats, LVTHER, Dougie Stu, Beau Diako, and Shivum Sharma to produce or co-produce the songs. The idea behind this project is to take you through the cycle of a romantic relationship, so you get everything from the butterflies and excitement to becoming nervous and being distant to moments of beautiful intimacy. At times the music can be really funky, such as the killer bass line on “Introvert Hotline,” and other times the music can be really blissful and peaceful, such as on the closing “for the both of us.” Whatever it is, you can be sure that May’s amazing voice and honest lyricism will be there to tie everything together and lead you through the ups and downs of the project. It’s a short release, but May packs so much emotional honesty and musical maturity into these songs, it’s easy to get lost in the music.

FIELDNOTES PT II is another excellent step in Ego Ella May’s career. She’s grown a lot over the past couple of years, and this is yet another instance where you can feel all of the little things just locking into place for her so that her voice and her songwriting can shine.