UK singer-songwriter May Payne captures the immediate shock of heartbreak on devastating new single ‘The News’. Written in one sitting after discovering that an ex who had promised to love her forever had already moved on, the track documents that painful moment almost as quickly as May herself could process it.
Her vocal is undoubtedly the star. ‘The News’ begins delicately, pairing acoustic guitar with May’s beautifully controlled delivery before gradually opening into a full indie-band arrangement. Her voice grows increasingly powerful and raw alongside it, with the occasional crack exposing the vulnerability beneath. Folk instrumentation – including a lovely harmonica break – meets a distinctly emo sense of melody and catharsis, making those unlikely Big Thief and My Chemical Romance reference points suddenly make perfect sense.
There may be no accompanying visual, but ‘The News’ conjures one of its own: open countryside beneath dark, brooding skies, beautiful but heavy with the threat of rain. Equal parts delicate and devastating, it’s a song that understands sometimes the only way to deal with terrible news is to pour everything into it.
