Her songs have been covered by artistes like Tanya Chua, Gigi Leung and Angela Zhang, with the latter singing “Journey” in the Taiwanese drama serial, Dolphin Bay. In May, Corinne May was presented with 2 awards by the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (COMPASS). The talented Los-Angeles-based singer-songwriter returns home to Singapore in August for a sold-out concert and the launch of her 4th album.

In an e-mail interview with UrbanWire, Corrinne May, 31, shared her feelings about her homecoming, her latest offering, Beautiful Seed, and what happens in a typical day.

UrbanWire (UW): Congratulations on being awarded the COMPASS 2007 Young Composer of the Year Award and the Wings of Excellence Award. What were your thoughts or feelings when you heard the news?

Corrinne (CR): Thank you. I was happy and really pleased to find out that I’d been awarded both awards. I felt a really nice sense of accomplishment. It’s a good feeling to know that my fellow musicians like what I’ve done and wish to recognise it.

UW: How do you feel about returning to Singapore for your upcoming concert on Aug 3, and what can audiences expect?

CR: I’m excited that I’ll get to sing again for my fans and even more excited that they will be the first to hear these new songs from the upcoming album. Besides the new songs, they can expect to hear favourites from the previous 2 albums, Fly Away and Safe in A Crazy World. I’ll also be sharing stories about how these songs came about, and we’ll have the band and a string ensemble to accompany me on piano.

UW: How’s the progress for the new album?

CR: We’ve been very, very busy with the recording, mixing and mastering for this album. In fact, as I’m replying to your email interview, I’m sitting in the mastering studio in Burbank, CA with the mastering engineer and my producer to work on putting the final touches on the recording before we finalise the album production.

I’ve also been busy working with my designer on the album artwork, but we’re at the final stage of finalising it. We’re going to have the album as a pre-release for the concert attendees. The official album launch is currently slated a few days after the concert.

UW: Your new album is titled Beautiful Seed. What’s the reasoning behind that?

CR: I wanted to make an album full of hope. Full of reminders of how, every person, no matter how small, can make a huge, beautiful difference in this world.

UW: Please tell us more about Beautiful Seed, and how it’s going to be different from your previous albums?

CR: I really love this album. We’ve put a lot of heart and time into the making of the album. It’s a more personal album because I’m putting forth a lot of my thoughts and convictions in it. I’m also more involved in producing, arranging and mixing the songs this time around than in the previous 2 albums.

The songs in the album are similar in tone to Fly Away and Safe in a Crazy World where the songs have a positive message, and in terms of the arrangement of the songs, the piano is also featured as one of the main instruments.

UW: So, which are the songs we should look out for, and why?

CR: “Shelter”, because it’s my favourite song on the album.

“Five Loaves and Two Fishes” because I love the biblical story that inspired the song. “Slow Down” because Kavin (her husband) did a wonderful arrangement for it.

UW: What’s the story behind your favourite song from Beautiful Seed?

CR: “Shelter” is a song about friendship, about sticking with your friend through the good times and bad.

UW: Share with us something interesting that happened during the recording process?

CR: Mark Punch who played the guitar for us on a lot of the songs in the album told us that he loved sardines and bananas. So the next time he came into the studio, I gave him a can of sardines and a bunch of bananas. He was all smiles.

UW: What do you plan to do after the work (release and any promotional efforts) on Beautiful Seed is over?

CR: Hopefully take a trip to Europe with my husband.

UW: Are there any genres or languages you wish to experiment with for your future albums? If so, which ones?

CR: Sure, Mandarin and Jazz.

UW: Tell us about a day in the life of Corrinne May.

CR: It depends. Right now, we’re in the midst of the album production for Beautiful Seed, so my day is filled with checking mixes of songs in the studio, checking the artwork, liaising with musicians and designers, doing press interviews, etc.

But typically, I’ve been getting up in the mornings to spend a couple of hours writing songs at the neighbourhood coffeehouse, then practicing my music or taking care of some music business in the afternoon. In the evening, there might be some time for TV or catching up with friends.

Corrinne May’s Aug 3 concert will be held at the NUS UCC Concert Hall (10 Kent Ridge Crescent) at 7:30pm. Tickets are all sold out.

All pictures of Corrinne May were taken by Dan Busta. Pictures provided courtesy of Corrinne May.