With her music evolving into a richer pasture every time she puts pen to paper, perhaps the only thing Abbe May has got going against her is her remote western seaboard location.
Design Desire is May’s latest record, and confirms her qualities as a songwriter and performer. Design Desire is a diverse record that ranges from dirty rock licks to intense acoustic moments. The opening track is the ideal type illustration of the former – a cascading Mick Ronson-inspired riff to get your sorry arse into gear; Mammalian Locomotion grinds and thrusts like tomorrow’s a waste of time before May’s haunting vocal offers a counterweight; You Could Be Mine offers the type of raw power Western Australia has been offering the nation for the past few decades.
In her more reserved moments – No Sleep Tonight (with shades of Kim Salmon’s Hanging Out), the piano-driven Blood River and the percussive Carolina – May is a model of intensity, her delivery that of the literary protagonist scored but never defeated. But it’s on the harder-edged tracks like No Sleep Tonight (with a casual nod to the Wayfaring Strangers’ Willie Nelson) and Cast That Devil Out that May is in her element. There’s a lot to be heard on Design Desire, and all of it’s good.
Key Track: Design Desire.
If You Like This, You’ll Like: THE FUZZ .
In A Word : Eclectic.
