For those unaware, May Erlewine is a musician from Big Rapids, Michigan, who sings and plays the guitar, piano, violin, and other instruments. May has an exceptional talent for reflecting on her experiences and crafting them into songs to which all can relate. Her words have held solace for weary hearts, offered a light in the darkness to many, and held space for the pain and joy of being alive.

May’s forthcoming new album, Tiny Beautiful Things (due out March 13th, 2022) is named after the book by Cheryl Strayed, which contains a selection of intimate letters between total strangers, and thus the songs here focus on the power of connection and the emotional exchanges surrounding love.

1. Easy
2. Changing
3. A Hunger
4. Your Someone
5. Lion Heart
6. He Knows
7. Could Have Been
8. Worlds Apart
9. Tiny Beautiful Things
10. Brought Me To You

As the heartfelt production of each track willingly serves them with a tenderness you can both hear and feel deeply, this simply beautiful, well-honed, well-crafted album opens on the dulcet Easy and the gently rhythmic Changing, and backs those up seamlessly with the effortlessly ambient A Hunger, the foot-tapper Your Someone, and then comes the melodically charged Lion Heart.

Next up is one of my own personal favorites, the quietly orchestrated gossamer of He Knows and the beautifully wistful Could Have Been, and they are themselves backed by the yearning of Worlds Apart, the album rounding out on the free flowing, summer’s breeze of the title track Tiny Beautiful Things, coming to a close on the concisely ornate nature of the piano-led Brought Me To You.

As we move through this uncertain and challenging time, I have become much more aware of how important connection is," May explains. I look at the way sharing our lives helps to sustain our hearts. When we are going through even the most rich and life-changing events, we reach out for reflection, for comfort, for wisdom. Sometimes there are no words for moments like these. Other times, there are words we cling to with all our might.

This collection of love songs came from these moments. This album is titled after a book by Cheryl Strayed that I clung to in a time of great uncertainty. This incredible author captured the correspondence between vulnerability and strength, somehow allowing both to exist.

I brought this music to Joe Hettinga in January of 2020 and asked him to help me co-produce the record. We let the songs lead us and found the courage to listen and to follow them. So many deep and incredibly talented independent musicians contributed to this album. Their craft, their voices, their hearts.

We made the music I have always wanted to make. I spent every dime I had to do it. I spent every minute I had to spare. This has been a labor of love and devotion. Now I get to share it with you. For this, I am beyond grateful.

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