Nova May leads a night out on breakthrough ‘I AM THE CLUB’ EP.
On her debut EP, Nova May grabs the AUX and soundtracks a raucous night out. Once you’ve partied with the pop provocateur for 16 minutes, you’ll never want to hit the club with anyone else.
In a pop climate where stars such as Charli XCX and Chappel Roan are being praised for their forward-thinking sound, Nova May looks into the past on her I AM THE CLUB EP. Not to the 80s magic box that fascinated Dua Lipa, The Weeknd and more in 2020, rather the dancefloor hits of the noughties which formed the star’s first party memories.
The melodramatic pop of Rihanna, Britney Spears and Lady Gaga was on the mood board as Nova May set about crafting the six tracks that make her first full project. Those are ambitious references for any artist, let alone a debutant, but the songwriter executes her vision with confidence while emerging in a lane of her own.
While just over a quarter of an hour in run length, the daring I AM THE CLUB EP serves as a mini concept album. From boarding the bus to the club to falling in love, fighting off unwanted attention, heartbreak and euphoria, Nova May flies through the stages of a big one on the town in a staggering supercut.
Firing up the production on ‘TROY’, the singer menacingly introduces herself as a ‘rebel angel dancing alone’. Seconds later, there are promises of ‘I’m gonna go off’ and by the time the track’s chorus drops, the Nova May party has begun.
It’s that track which also opens Nova May’s headline show at 229 in London on Saturday night. Arriving between the strobe lights at the underground venue with fans, some who had been queuing for hours, covered in glitter - it’s exactly how ‘TROY’ was made to be heard.
That EP opener sounds somewhat like the long lost sister of Rihanna smash ‘S&M’, packing the same heart-raising punch as Nova May searches the dancefloor for a fling - at 229, the star even nods to that 2010 smash with a fired up cover halfway through the night.
Back in the journey of the EP, by the time ‘CBA’ comes around, the singer has found what she’s looking for. It’s a shame he’s just a little too keen.
“He wants me to stay, but I CBA,” the singer teases on the flick. From baking cookies to bedtime stories, the single’s lyrics are some of Nova May’s giddy best. They are met with what is perhaps the EP’s most daring production - that’s courtesy of the artist’s producer 444BOY, for whom the I AM THE CLUB EP also feels like a landmark moment.
Brimming with personality, it’s impossible not to be drawn in by Nova May. On ‘BOSH!’ she reimagines the famous noughties Cilit Bang ad to snarl at unwanted attention in the club, Elsewhere, on ‘CRYING ON THE DANCEFLOOR’ the singer comes the closest to vulnerability as she sheds a tear under the disco ball - that’s a soaring highlight at the star’s landmark London set.
The EP’s standout moment comes on ‘MR BUS DRIVER’. A track that has already pulled in hundreds of thousands of streams online, Nova May struts to the back of a big red London bus with her pals - you’d imagine there’s a bottle of wine and pot of glitter shoved into a pocket somewhere.
With the help of 444BOY, Nova May matches that urban setting with a brutalist production. Brilliantly, the duo also allow the track to spiral into an ethereal pre-chorus - “Baby, spin the wheel, drive until we feel alive,” the star whispers into the driver’s ear.
The I AM THE CLUB party comes to an end very much where it began on ‘TROY’ with ‘DJ MY RELIGION’. A straightforward dancefloor filler packed with nostalgia, it also makes a triumphant closing number at 229 as the singer surrendering to the music.
In her final moments before facing the morning after, Nova May confesses, “In the name of the father, the son and the holy DJ, I vow to never stop dancing to the bass.”
10/10
Nova May’s ‘I AM THE CLUB’ has been added to under the radar’s Elite Picks.