Introducing: MÆVEY
Meet Mævey: the soulful Liverpool-based singer-songwriter whose debut release with Baltic Jazz Recordings is set to make waves. Rooted in the rugged beauty of West Wales, Mævey’s music blends jazz, neo-soul, pop, and electronica into a hauntingly atmospheric sound that’s all her own. Her voice, reminiscent of jazz’s most heart-wrenching icons, glides effortlessly through powerful lyrics and sophisticated production, exploring themes of vulnerability, resilience, and self-discovery.
In the Baltic Jazz EP Re:Vealed, Mævey dives deep. Each song reflects her journey of embracing inner strength, confronting past fears, and reclaiming her voice in a world where she once doubted her own power. With inspirations like Björk, Nancy Sinatra, and Patsy Cline, she crafts music “for people who see life in technicolor.”
From the introspective "Stole Me From the Sky," tackling innocence and boundaries, to "Gatekeeper," an unapologetic anthem of feminine strength, Mævey’s debut is a vivid expression of courage and creativity.
1. Your debut EP Re:Vealed explores themes of vulnerability, relationships, and reclaiming inner strength. Can you tell us more about the personal journey that inspired these songs and how your experiences shaped the music?
This past year has felt transformational, in a good way, sometimes transformation can be super uncomfortable but this felt powerful - challenging but powerful. It felt like a year of getting vulnerable, of shedding skin and calling on inner resources. It felt like a year when all of a sudden the way I had been living no longer served me or those around me anymore. I felt like I had been trying to fit myself into roles that other people wanted me to play and I said ‘enough is enough’. I decided to stand up for myself and that was huge and there were people who found it difficult. This time brought the end of a friendship which was heartbreaking. No one talks about the depths of sadness that one feels when friendships break up but there I was in the throes of this challenging time and It got me thinking about vulnerability and honesty. It took a fair bit of inner enquiry to bring compassion to the part that I and to the other person played in this breakup. During this time it just so happened that I was approached by Baltic Jazz Recordings & EMI north to create a collection of songs. These songs in their different ways became about how I chose to alchemise the grief into something that could serve me and hopefully others in a little way. They became songs about being a woman, about finding new shapes, about trusting the change, about feeling the anger, about questioning societal roles, and mostly about how always I choose to love, even when that means letting go.
2. You’ve mentioned that collaborating with live musicians for this recording allowed you to experiment with your vocal performance. How did that creative process impact the final sound of your EP, and how does it differ from your previous work?
I am so fortunate to be signed to Baltic Jazz Recordings who have partnered with EMI North this year. Baltic Jazz is a critically acclaimed label ran by the mighty Steve & Karen Levine. Steve, a Grammy-award winning producer brings his love for retro Motown, Jazz and Soul into the 21st century and everything he makes is a homage to old and new. He’s a genius and someone that I really am so grateful to work with.
Steve’s studio, based in Liverpool, has a particular ‘room sound’. Once we got the demos down, we pulled together the A team - an insanely talented bunch of musicians to record in the room, all together. We only had one day to get the tracks down which was a bit terrifying and disaster struck in the last hour with a power cut. Once we got everything back up and running we only had about 20 minutes left of the day and I kind of assumed that we were going to have to leave finishing the last song until another time. We pressed record for a ‘Gatekeeper’ take. You can hear Dave Ormsby (drums) saying ‘One, Two..’ which makes me smile as just before the count-in he’d said ‘guys, this is going to be the take we remember’ and he was right. We nailed it in one take which was amazing. Once we began to mix the track, we realised that the power cut had meant that one of the drum mics hadn’t turned back on so that sound in Gatekeeper is from the room mic. There’s something about the sound that's so dreamy and lustrous and we never would have had it without the powercut.
I usually record a lot more methodically whereas this process felt a lot freer and really open to surprises. There have been numerous players on the EP that have shared their talents and added their sparkle which I am extremely grateful for. Jesse Eigen on the bass and songwriting, Joe Smithson on Guitars and songwriting, Steve Levine on programming, synths and songwriting, Jack Hymers on Keys, Jack Lister Beacall on keys, Dave Ormsby on drums, Richard Mainwaring on Strings, Paul Von Mertens & The Air Horns on woodwind & brass, Kaya Herstad Carney on backing vocals, Vidar Norheim on vibes and percussion. They’re all amazing and create that unique sound.
3. In tracks like ‘Stole Me From the Sky,’ you explore themes of innocence, boundaries, and personal growth. What message do you hope listeners take away from such deeply introspective songs?
If anyone has ever felt used in any way - this song is for you. Innocence is something we should honour and nurture. The way we see children experiencing life is with open eyed awe and it pains me that it’s something that gets squashed in later life. People take advantage of innocence and this breaks my heart. I have felt and I'm sure many can relate, that moment when you are pulled down to earth with an almighty crash and see the underbelly of society and people’s behaviour. One chooses to see the good in others and then all of a sudden a lesson comes where you see the wolf in sheep's clothing. I was reading the Greek mythology about the Nymph Echo who tried to do the right thing but was punished by the Queen of the Gods, Hera who made her repeat every word that was spoken to her which is how we have the ‘Echo’. It fed into this song ‘Why do all the echoes follow you?’ was directly inspired by it. Echo’s innocence was used against her and after her punishment, she would never be the same again.
4. Your music blends elements of jazz, neo-soul, pop, and electronica to create a dark, atmospheric vibe. What draws you to these genres, and how do artists like Björk and Goldfrapp influence your sound?
I have never wanted to be too caged in by any one genre. I actually find it hard to label it. Someone at one of my shows recently came up to me and said ‘You’re a gothic-folk-jazz artist’ and I went ‘Hey, I love that description’ cause It felt true. I love the glamour and sophistication of 40’s jazz icons, the storytelling of 60’s-70’s soul, the hooks in 80’s synth-pop and drive of 2000’s lo-fi electronica. We’re so lucky to be surrounded by so much amazing music and artistry. I’m happy when the music I love can guide and inspire what directions are taken. This is another place where Steve Levine and I work so well together, his taste in music is very much like my own and we can name a track and note all the parts of it that we love and draw inspiration from that. I have always been captivated by Björk, her playfulness and genre breaking attitude is phenomenal. I am often drawn to female artists when they possess some otherworldly power within their craft.
5. The song ‘Gatekeeper’ is an empowering anthem for women. What does this track mean to you personally, and how do you hope it resonates with your listeners, especially your “resilient sisters”?
The skeleton for Gatekeeper was written a long time ago. One of my early songs - from a different alias - was censored the first time it was played on the radio as it contained a word that they didn’t think was appropriate. Ironically the sentence containing the word in question was a line taken from an old poem speaking about the wholeness of woman and how being labeled as either the ‘chaste’ or the ‘vixen; is so damaging to society. The irony was not lost on me after the anger dissipated that they had made a ‘radio’ edit without asking our permission and completely destroyed the track. It actually makes me laugh now because that series of events created ‘Gatekeeper’. For me, anger is not the way to transformation. It’s a necessary step but it’s destructive if we stay in it too long. Gatekeeper was the way I transformed that anger into my message that ‘I’m not sorry I'm a woman on the terms I choose to be’. This track has really resonated with people which makes me happy, not just with the resilient sisters but also with a broad spectrum of folk. Jazz FM has been very supportive of this song and it makes my little heart swell when I get notes from listeners saying that it has struck a chord with them.
