Croydon born jazz singer picks up MOBO for debut album

A singer songwriter from Croydon has won a MOBO award for her genre-bending soulful music.

Ego Ella May – pronounced “Eh-go” – won at the Best Jazz Act in the 2020 awards.

The 28-year-old said: “I feel really good. To actually win it was amazing because I think I’m such a niche artist and I don’t associate myself with awards.”

She added: “They didn’t warn us beforehand and I just saw it on their Instagram page and I was tagged in it. I thought it was fake.”

Her debut album Honey For Wounds was released in June last year.

One highlight is Table for One, chronicling the pain and the strength found in a break-up.

Another track, Girls Don’t Always Sing About Boys, expresses her frustration about endless love songs.

She said: “I listened to the radio and I thought all the songs are about romantic love – either how somebody breaks their heart or how badly they’re in love with this person.

“I guess I just wrote it in my annoyance that there are other things going on in the world and when I’m thinking about how I live my life and my everyday conversations they don’t centre around romantic relationships.”

Ego Ella May describes the album as like her diary, but the themes of heartbreak, identity and self-discovery are universal.

She said: “It’s just honest. When I have had feedback for the album I find it quite nice that it’s relatable even though the songs are personal to me.

“It’s nice that you remember that we all go through similar things and feelings.”

Storytelling is important for the singer who often gets inspiration from books, saying that it will often spark something inside her that she wants to express in a song.

She cites her musical influences – Nina Simone, Joni Mitchel and Amy Winehouse – for the same reason. She said: “A lot of it is to do with how much I connect to somebody’s story telling.”

Like most musicians, lockdown has put everything on hold. She did have a tour booked, but the dates have been moved three times and she doesn’t know when it will happen.

Instead she’s been doing yoga, learning to knit and reading a lot.

As for writing new music, the singer’s done a bit here and there but not consistently.

She said: “I really just feel like I write when I have something to say and I’m not that inspired lately because life isn’t really the same. I’m kind of okay with that at the moment.”