At just 24, Australian singer-songwriter Maya Cumming, known professionally as May-a, experienced a jarring shift after signing with Atlantic Records in 2021 and achieving early success with Flume’s 2022 hit “Say Nothing.” Cumming’s story illustrates the challenges young artists face navigating the music industry’s demands.
Cumming relocated to Los Angeles in 2024, anticipating a career breakthrough, but found herself in a creatively stifling environment. “I moved to LA for the label and then did the sessions that they put in for me,” she explained. “And then I was like, these are sucking everything out of me and leaving no trace of my personality in any of this music. It was just feeling very stale and devoid of personal touch, like canned Christmas music.”
After releasing the 2023 EP, Analysis Paralysis, which involved numerous compromises, Cumming parted ways with Atlantic in late 2024. She then began work on her debut album, fueled by frustration with the industry’s expectations. “I had lost who I was because of trying to please corporations that just wanted me to write singles and hits,” she said. Working with guitarist and engineer Chloe Dadd, Cumming crafted songs driven by both anger and self-discovery. “So much of it was driven by spite,” she admitted. “I felt like no one believed that I could write my own songs or have my own vision. I was like, I’m gonna do this, because fuck you.”
To forge a sound distinct from her earlier, more subdued work, Cumming collaborated with experienced rock and pop-punk producers, including Carlos de la Garza (Paramore), Chris Greatti (Yungblud), and Ilan Rubin (Foo Fighters). The resulting album, Goodbye (If You Call That Gone), is set for release this month. “I think I associated LA with purposelessness for so long,” she reflected. “Now I can see the potential there, because there are goals, not just throwing shit at the wall until it sticks.”
The interview took place in an aggressively air-conditioned room at the Sydney office of Sony Music Australia, which signed Cumming in 2020 and now manages her worldwide rights. Despite a busy day of press, Cumming was articulate and candid, noting that having “in-person and in-depth” conversations about her work felt new after years of being labeled an artist “on the rise.” “It’s been fun and cathartic, because I have a lot to say about [the album],” she added.
Cumming’s musical journey began with busking at markets and storefronts in Byron Bay and Bangalow, inspired by her father’s love of Bob Dylan. At 14, after her family moved to Sydney, she connected with producer Christian Lo Russo after unexpectedly visiting his Randwick studio. Her early songs, created while also a teen YouTube personality, drew influence from diaristic pop artists like Lorde and Taylor Swift.
“I loved so many different bands, but they were all fronted by men,” she said. “I was like, well, there’s no woman in the Red Hot Chili Peppers or the Strokes, so I guess I’ll be Taylor Swift.” Discovering bands like Garbage, Hole, and Veruca Salt in her early 20s, she realized “this is where I’m meant to be.”
Goodbye (If You Call That Gone) is anchored by the defiant “Last Man On Earth,” with the lyric, “I wouldn’t forgive you / if you were the last man on earth.” The upbeat track “(I’m here for the) Girls” represents a departure from her earlier single, “Apricots,” which captured the tentative feelings of queer longing in her teenage years. After “Apricots,” she said, “I got a little bit scared of being put in a box – like, she’s a lesbian artist for lesbians and no one else. With this album, I don’t care who puts me in what box. I just want to write what I want to write.”
With the 2025 Triple J Hottest 100 approaching, Cumming recalled learning that “Say Nothing” had won while on tour in Berlin. “I knew it was going to place because it’s Harley [Flume], but winning was completely unexpected,” she said. The song’s success, however, influenced the expectations of collaborators during her time in Los Angeles. “They were like, ‘sing like Say Nothing, quiet, and y’know, get the Billie Eilish fans.’”
The conversation shifted to the word “lucky” tattooed on her throat. “When I got it, I was definitely not in a good place – because no one’s in a good place when they get a neck tattoo,” she said with a laugh. “At that point, I was in a place of, ‘You’re lucky to be alive and you need to be reminded’.” Now, she views luck as gratitude, including for her parents’ unwavering support; her mother, a makeup and hair stylist, assisted during the photoshoot. “They have just been there for me, and I’m fucking crazy,” she said.
Last year, Cyndi Lauper invited Cumming to perform “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” alongside her in Sydney, both wearing matching red-on-white polka dots. This performance marked a turning point in May-a’s career.
“It was phenomenal to watch [Lauper] perform at 71 – she was so there, rolling around on the floor,” Cumming said, still impressed. “I was like, well, at least I have my goals set out for me now.”
