MAY-A - Goodbye (If You Call That Gone) (2026) [Hi-Res]

Maya Cumming, aka Sydney-born artist MAY-A, says her debut album mirrors the healing process, moving through feelings of rage, grief, and acceptance. The most significant catalyst for that emotional journey has been her “lived experience” in the music industry. “I’ve been in the industry since I was 13,” she tells Apple Music. “I was just so angry at the systems and the way it worked. It felt like it was either completely working for you as this machine you didn’t have any control over, or it was completely working against you, and you’re shut out of everything.”

On her debut album, Cumming was determined to “step out of feeling controlled by the industry [and] people making all my decisions for me.” She’d already decided to trade the bedroom indie pop of 2021’s Don’t Kiss Ur Friends for a more guitar-heavy, full-band sound. She also eschewed LA writer rooms and expensive producers to knuckle down in a house with her partner and guitarist Chloe Dadd and write the album she wanted to make. “It feels like such a symbol of me standing my ground and knowing who I am and trusting myself,” she says. Here, MAY-A takes Apple Music through Goodbye (If You Call That Gone), track by track.