Press release –
An emo kid at heart, alternative rock artist Thea May is ready to unleash her new EP, Living With It, due out October 15 via Ishkōdé Records. Alongside the announcement the Anishinaabe artist from Atikameksheng Anishnawbek, ON, shares her powerful new single “Twenty Seven,” a track that pays tribute to a life that ended far too soon.
Thea May’s new single, “Twenty Seven,” is a raw alt-rock tribute to a life lived fully, even when cut short. Written in honour of a best friend, the song captures the bittersweet nostalgia of a final car ride and the profound realization that a life isn’t measured by milestones like marriage or career, but by the courage and intensity with which it’s lived.
“‘Twenty Seven’ happened because Digby died. She was my best friend, one of those pivotal ‘we were girls together’ friends,” shares May. “She got sick and didn’t make it. This song is like a Dube cruise, her and I fighting over the aux cord, the last time I dropped her off. She died young, but man, she did the living and the dying part with her whole f*cking chest. This song is for her.”
What’s The Story Behind Living With It?
Living With It is Thea May’s reckoning record: a bruised, unfiltered document of what it means to survive without softening the truth. Across these songs, May refuses consolation, rejects performative care, and pulls listeners straight into the emotional aftermath rather than offering tidy resolutions. It is a collection about staying alive inside discomfort, living in the wreckage of love, addiction-adjacent coping, inherited pain, and the quiet expectation to be “okay” for everyone else.
What’s The Story about Thea May?
(pronounced “Thee-uh” May)
Don’t bother with anything but honesty with Thea May. An emo kid at heart, the Anishinaabe artist from Atikameksheng Anishnawbek, ON, makes music because she has to. As a child, singing, dancing and performing were driven by impulse, an inner force of truth that found its way out. Now as an adult, May is a songwriter finding her purpose, or more accurately, understanding the purpose that found her. “My artist journey hurts sometimes, but it’s healing and it’s important that I am here to share this with the world,” says May.
Mining, both as a metaphor for the emotional depths explored in her songs, and an actual day job for a time, is a handy prompt to consider what it might be like to be in May’s position: an artist out of instinct, raw talent, and out of necessity. There’s something very precious within. “We bare our souls so you don’t have to, we provide safe space in an unsafe place. I’m grateful to be able to connect with people who share pain in this world.”
A kindred bridge enthusiast, May is determined to craft her own distinct eras, starting with Brought To You By Tragedy (March 2025), an EP that established her powerful, once in a generation voice and clear directive. Her next body of work moves beyond grief and into a ‘no pity party’ phase. This new direction is a raw, unvarnished document of survival, where she rejects performative care and refuses consolation. Rooted in Thea’s Anishinaabe identity and lived experience, her sound is driven by 90’s grunge guitars and fearless rock vocals. “I am on this journey for every version of me that suffered, I am on this journey for every person who fears that sadness and darkness are all that exists, I am on this journey to normalize a path we all walk.”
“Twenty Seven” Single Credits
Written by: Theadora May Naponse, Alexandra Jelilyan, Marc Koecher
Produced by: Illegal Audio (Marc Koecher, Alexandra Jelilyan)
Recording engineer: Marc Koecher
Mixed by: Marc Koecher
Mastered by: Kristian Montano
Musicians
Theadora May Naponse: Lead Vocals
Marc Koecher: Guitar, Drums, Bass, Programming
Alexandra Jelilyan: Background Vocals
Catch Thea May Live!
July 3 – St. Catharines, ON – Warehouse Concert Hall*
July 4 – London, ON – Supply & Demand Brewery*
July 5 – Guelph, ON – Sonic Hall*
July 7 – Oshawa, ON – The Biltmore Theatre*
July 8 – Ottawa, ON – The 27 Club*
July 9 – Cornwall, ON – Schnitzels*
July 10 – Northumberland County, ON – Focal Brewing Co.*
July 11 – Toronto, ON – Hard Luck Bar*
* special guest for Northcote
