Episode 160: Dent May

Hanging out at the DMV, a ukulele standard about Catalina, and the good feeling music of the Big Chill generation. Dent May “Known for shepherding a kind of classic American songwriting into the age of bedroom recording, Mississippi born musician Dent May is soaking it in and taking his time on his new LP Late Checkout. After contributing heavily to his local Oxford music and art community, May began putting songs online and performing alone under his birth name in 2007. After befriending Animal Collective while they were recording Merriweather Post Pavilion in Oxford, the band offered to release May’s debut The Good Feeling Music Of Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele (2009) through their record label Paw Tracks. May’s distinctive croon and sentimental writing won over fans around the globe, and his music continued to evolve on Do Things (2012) and Warm Blanket (2013). Pining for a new scene and life in a big city, May moved to Los Angeles in 2015 and began work on his sprawling epic Across the Multiverse (2017). His first record on Carpark, Across the Multiverse saw May taking his songwriting to the far reaches of home recording with expansive arrangements and illustrative lyrics. Following the release of Across the Multiverse, May set out for a new final frontier—his own recording studio. May partnered with friends and collaborators Pat Jones and Michael Rosen to construct Honeymoon Suite Recording Studio from scratch, and began recording himself and other artists there in January 2018. May afforded himself the time to gradually craft a new hi-fi pop alchemy on the songs for Late Checkout, while still aiming for a sparse intimacy in his arrangements. Across the dozen new tracks that make up his fifth LP, May grapples with the swinging emotions of our contemporary reality with his rare optimism and distinguished sound. Late Checkout arrives August 21st via Carpark.” Excerpt from https://www.dentmay.com/dentmayabout Dent May: Bandcamp: https://dentmay.bandcamp.com/music Instagram: @dentmay Website: https://www.dentmay.com Merch: https://dentmay.bandcamp.com/merch The Vineyard: Instagram: @thevineyardpodcast Website: https://www.thevineyardpodcast.com Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thevineyardpodcast