Mississippi-based singer/songwriter and ukulele aficionado Dent May crafts elegant and whimsical pop tunes in the vein of Jens Lekman and Magnetic Fields, with a dash of Serge Gainsbourg and Jonathan Richman thrown in for good measure. In 2008 May inked a deal with the Animal Collective-founded Paw Tracks imprint, culminating in the release of The Good Feeling Music of Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele the following year. May soon turned to creating dance music under the name Dent Sweat, releasing a couple of synth-filled, R&B-inspired songs to the internet. His next album, 2012's Do Things, incorporated some of these elements into his sound, which was now completely devoid of ukulele.

Dent May recorded "Fun" and "Wedding Day" at Hits Inc, his home studio at the infamous Cats Purring Dude Ranch in Oxford, Mississippi.  Expanding upon the smooth pop sound he introduced on last year's "That Feeling" / "Eastover Wives" single on Forest Family, Dent ditches his ukulele in favor of cosmic synths, funky guitars, analog drum machines, loopy bass lines, and massive vocal harmonies.  This is his second release on Paw Tracks, who put out his debut LP "The Good Feeling Music of Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele" in 2009.  The 7" will be pressed on clear vinyl in a limited edition amount of records, and a tour only cassette single will be limited to 100 copies.


In the years since signing with Paw Tracks in 2009, Mississippi native Dent May has made music that balances saccharine pop sincerity and campy affectation. His debut LP, The Good Feeling Music of Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele, put wry storytelling at its fore, but imbued each track with sweet strums of the titular instrument and earnest harmonies sure to arrest listeners' sympathies. Eager to explore different styles, the two singles released since the album, "That Feeling" and "Fun," have seen May plugging in and finding footing somewhere between 60s psychedelia and disco-era balladry in the vein of Ashford and Simpson, a vibe he expands on with his new record, Do Things.

Played entirely by himself and recorded in sessions split between his bedroom at the Cats Purring Dude Ranch and a small cabin by a cotton field outside Oxford, MS, Do Things finds the self-described "wedding reception band on acid" purveying the same heavy helpings of sentiment, but forgoing the jocular tone of his debut for a more contemplative-but still relentlessly optimistic-demeanor. Underneath the shiny veneer of synthesizer filigrees and harmonious coos, May zooms in on such timeless subjects as the nature of friendship, finding purpose in a world that seems devoid of it, and dealing with insistent feelings of malaise. "Funk" is certainly a word that's written all over the album, and May's Orange Juice-ian take on it lends songs like "Best Friend" and "Don't Wait Too Long" a sprightly boogie and conjures images of soft-lit rooms and mirror balls. When not thumping and grooving, Do Things bops and sways along the psych-pop avenues of "Tell Her" and the ascending melodies of "Find It." Full of stylistic changes but retaining May's singular voice, Do Things is a great step forward for the pop devotee.   

Dent May writes and records homemade pop music in Mississippi, where he was born in 1985.  He began songwriting at age 12. The following year, he started a band called Flood, who covered Creed and 311 and sold homemade cassettes to classmates. In high school, heavily influenced by Elvis Costello and The Cars, Dent fronted a power-pop band called The Rockwells. Feeling like an outsider in Mississippi, he retreated to the Internet, where he spent his time soaking in pop music and culture from around the globe.