Ego Ella May is an artist from London who has been part of the jazz and neo-soul scene for a few years. She dropped her debut album, So Far, in 2019, and followed that up with Honey For Wounds in 2020. Now she is back with the first in a series of EPs written during lockdown, Fieldnotes.

It’s always interesting to hear how different artists are processing living through a global pandemic, since it doesn’t happen all that often. Some artists get angry, some get depressed, some get introspective…there’s no wrong answer here, just honesty in trying to figure out what the hell is going on. In the case of Ego Ella May, she’s very observational and gentle in the ways in which she processes her emotions on Fieldnotes. You could even infer this from the title of the EP, which references the ways in which scientists keep track of their findings while doing research. In this case, May is studying herself and others in her sphere during this unique time period. The fascinating thing here is that the EP actually plays out in the order it was written, which is not usually the case, but in this instance, it means that you can somewhat track the progression of the pandemic through May’s music. For the EP, she’s working with Geo Jordan, Eun, and Flwr Chyld on the production side of things, who help her find this style of neo-soul that has some modern touches while also bringing in some classic jazz and R&B voicings as well. The whole thing comes together to make a project that is short, yet very impactful. This is due to the honest emotional journey that May is taking you on, along with the beautiful tone to her voice that guides you along the way.

Fieldnotes is another solid entry from Ego Ella May. She’s not trying to do too much with this project, instead just focusing on sorting out one of the strangest times we’ve had to live through while delivering some beautiful neo-soul in the process.