NME’s latest star of The Cover, Sophie May, has created an exclusive playlist to accompany the story’s launch – check it out below.
The south London indie-folk artist is on this week’s (January 26) edition of The Cover, a manifestation of NME’s commitment to supporting emerging talent across the globe on a weekly basis. Every week, a rising artist will feature on The Cover – you can read Sophie May’s profile here, written by Tilly Foulkes and featuring photography by Lo Harley.
Sophie May has curated a playlist to accompany her appearance on The Cover, sharing a selection of songs under the theme of ‘My death row meal but instead of food it’s songs’. Among them are tracks by the likes of Baby Rose, SZA, Alex Turner, Roy Orbison and Men I Trust, among others. Listen to the full playlist on Spotify below and on Apple Music.
In March, Sophie May will release her debut album ‘Stars And Teeth’, a record which draws connections between the gigantic, existential questions we have about meaning, death, and the universe (‘Real Life Angel’, ‘Another Song For The End Of The World’, ‘Devils Land’) with the tiny, intimate moments we experience as humans (‘Touch Me’, ‘Dog Body’, ‘Animal’). Moving between sultry, tongue-in-cheek and apprehensive, May’s lyrics pack a punch in their plainspoken simplicity.
It’s the emotional vulnerability in her songwriting that, in part, caught the eye of Billie Eilish when she posted a snippet of her track ‘Lover Boy’ in 2022. The US megastar isn’t the only big name to be clued into Sophie May, either. Last year, the indie-folk singer-songwriter landed a credit on Rosalía’s ‘Magnolias’.
“It was very random, and I have no doubt that there was a little bit of luck involved,” she reflects now. “We had a session booked in, we wrote a very short song, and then we forgot about it for a couple of years. Then at the start of 2025, we heard whispers that Rosalía’s team might be interested. I didn’t know she was gonna make this crazy, classical, insane alternative album, so I was like, ‘Oh, is she gonna chop it up?’” she laughs.
It’s moments like these, and the impending release of ‘Stars and Teeth’, that put into perspective how far Sophie May has come. “With everything I do, I feel one step closer to being a ‘proper’, grown-up musician,” she concludes. “So much of the beginning is feeling lost, there’s so much questioning, but I guess that’s also to do with just being in your twenties.”
Read Sophie May’s full Cover story here and find out who else has been on The Cover here.
Every year, NME produces 50 Cover stories, showcasing the future of music via in-depth profiles and exclusive photoshoots. Check out our coffee table book NME The Cover 2024-2025, which features the likes of Kneecap, Lola Young, Amaarae, LE SSERAFIM, Oklou and many more.