Margo May - I'm Not Coming Home (2015)

Margo May is no stranger to pop music. The songs on her fourth album, I’m Not Coming Home, could easily have been recorded in a slick studio, injected with loud beats and turned into glistening anthems. Instead, May kept the hooks and traded the gloss for what is her most stripped down, raw and intimate performance to date.

The album see’s May returning to her roots as an acoustic guitarist and singer-songwriter -- but her years penning pop songs have carried over in a way that offers an immediacy to the heart wrenching intimacy of this album.

Performed live and recorded at engineer Tim J. Harte’s loft in Kansas City, MO -- I’m Not Coming Home only features May's evocative vocals, subtle harmonies, acoustic melodies and occasional secondary guitar work by longtime collaborator, Doby Watson (see Watson & May).

On this record she wears her heart on her sleeve without sounding the least bit helpless. May embraces strength in her womanhood, brushing off the antagonistic patriarchs that appear in her stories. The set is as empowering as it is charming. It’s as if she’s beside you, politely whispering in your ear, “I don’t need you, get lost."

As braggable as May’s years of greatly varied experience are: collaborations with French producer Elias Abid, Rivulets, ssshheee (to name a few), selling a batch of songs to MTV, touring with Josh Berwanger (the Anniversary, Only Children) and even getting cast in small TV roles -- it’s when the focus is on May’s stripped down, honest songwriting and performances that she is most impressive.