Imelda May has announced her return to music with her first poetry EP, 'Slip Of The Tongue'.
Imelda May
After the Irish musician teased she had been penning poetry and will "probably" put out an EP and publish a book next, she has confirmed the release of the upcoming mini album and kicked things of with the lead track, 'Home'.
On what inspired her first instrumental poem, she said: "My friend Sara was getting married and I decided to write a poem as a gift.
"It made me sit and really think about love and what it is in all its forms and to look at it purely from loves own point of view.
"I surmised what it might tell us if we simply took the time to listen and realised, for me, true love is where I can be my true self, it feels like home."
Imelda plans to release one poem every week leading up to the release of the EP via Decca Records on June 12.
As per a press release, the collection tackles issues including, "obsession, heartbreak, Covid isolation and love".
She explained: "I constantly write.
"Writing pads are filled, backs of envelopes, scraps of paper are scribbled on and scattered around me in between books, trinkets and photos.
"Melodies swirl in my head. Footsteps become the rhythm to a song.
"But often words don't feel like they need anything more than to be spoken aloud or read alone.
"They just feel good as they are. But I still hear music. It evokes such strong emotion.
"So I decided to combine my two loves. I think they dance beautifully. I hope you agree."
The 45-year-old singer/songwriter's last LP was 2017's 'Life Love Flesh Blood' - which she received guidance on from U2's Bono - but she recently revealed she kept busy by writing over 90 poems.
She shared: "I've been writing poetry forever.
"I'm always writing, whether it's music or poetry.
"And I have so much of it, I'm probably going to release a book.
"I've been recording some of it as spoken word set to music, and I'll probably release an EP or something like that.
"I've kind of hidden myself away for the past couple of years and I've been working really hard.
"I've thoroughly enjoyed myself, I just seem to have a huge amount of stuff that I've done.
"[When I hide away and write] nobody has a clue what I'm doing - but [management] asked what I'd been working on ... and I compiled what I was happy with, and I told them I've got about 90 poems and they all nearly fell off the chair.
"I'm at the stage now where I'm continuously writing and hoping to publish it and see what will happen.
"It's a nice adventure for me."
'Home' is out now.
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