Dent May

indie rock · pop rock

Dent May is an American indie pop singer-songwriter, born James Dent May Jr. on May 6, 1985, in Jackson, Mississippi, and now based in Los Angeles. He attended Jackson Prep, spent time at NYU's film school and finished at the University of Mississippi with a degree in English and Southern Studies, playing in the Mississippi power-pop group The Rockwells before going out under his own name. In Oxford, Mississippi he co-founded the Cats Purring collective, run out of a house known as the Cats Purring Dude Ranch, which became a hub for the town's independent music scene. His debut, The Good Feeling Music of Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele, came out in 2009 on Animal Collective's Paw Tracks label and leaned on the arch, lounge-inflected songwriting he took from Serge Gainsbourg and Lee Hazlewood; Animal Collective went on to book him for their All Tomorrow's Parties festival in 2011. Do Things (2012) and Warm Blanket (2013) followed on Paw Tracks, trading the ukulele for synthesizers and drum machines. After relocating to Los Angeles he issued Face Down in the Gutter of Your Love in 2016, then moved to Carpark Records for Across the Multiverse in 2017; later releases include Late Checkout (2020), Crying Laughing (2022), What's for Breakfast? (2024) and The Big One (2026). Across those records his writing moves between psychedelic pop, synth-pop, soft rock and new wave, usually self-produced, with a wry lyrical voice set against lush arrangements. He tours clubs including the Larimer Lounge in Denver, the Beachland Tavern in Cleveland and Milkboy in Philadelphia.

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