“It was almost therapeutic, writing this project,” Becca Hatch tells Apple Music. “Over the last year, it’s kind of been a symbol of me growing up in a way, or growing into my womanhood.” That journey is on display throughout MAYDAY, an EP bristling with both vulnerability and defiance. It sees the Western Sydney-born singer heading in a more energetic dance direction than the R&B and soul of early singles such as 2020’s “2560”, drawing on genres such as Jersey club (“Think of You”) and drum ’n’ bass (“Bass Keeps Calling”). “Over the last few years, I was hitting the clubs a lot more, and club culture and dance music was more inspiring to me when I was making the project,” she smiles. “The original idea was to make a project that was just dance music.” That idea evolved, however, as she called on the deeper emotional resonance of her soul and R&B roots to exorcise issues in her personal life. “It turned into a mixture of different things—dance music, but it still has that more R&B and soul writing to it,” she says. “When I was writing, I was in a pretty low mental state, I wasn’t doing too well. But over the journey of writing and working on the project, it [became] about resilience and growth and taking back your power. It turned into a love letter to myself, in a way.” Naming the EP MAYDAY because a lot of the songs “are like a call for help”, the singer here talks Apple Music through its ups and downs, track by track. “Bass Keeps Calling” (with Tentendo) “It’s a song about going out and having a mad time, just having a crazy night. When I wrote that song, that’s what I was doing.” “Incapable” “I wrote this towards the end of the project. I had been listening to a lot of 070 Shake and this producer called Tchami, and I wanted to make something that felt red and dark—something opposite from what people might expect from me. The song is about being hurt, and once you’ve been hurt it’s really hard to trust people and build those relationships up again. It’s the opposite of what I normally talk about, which is love and having a good time.” “Think of You” “The idea we were going for was when you’re trying to have a good time but have something constantly in the back of your mind that’s making it really hard to enjoy yourself. I guess it’s a song about when someone’s on your mind, or something keeps bugging you from having a good time.” “One of One” “This was written in the middle of making the project. A lot of the other songs were sad and about negative things, but this one is more about having someone who sticks by you through it all. Because when I was going through a really shit time, I had to remember, there’s actually people who’ve stuck by me, and I should be grateful for those people. So that’s what ‘One of One’ is about.” “Leave Me Low” “I don’t want to be someone who relies on a lot of people when I’m going through things. I don’t want to make someone feel stuck in a relationship or force you to be with me, because I know I’m a lot—I’m a very hectic person! I guess the song is about ‘Would you leave me low? If it came down to it, and something was to happen, would you leave me here?’. I’m asking the question.” “Crash” “When you’ve gone through hard times [and] you look back, you’re almost proud, or you almost have a little giggle to yourself. You’re like, I can’t believe I was sad, or I can’t believe I went through all of this. I guess that’s how I feel about this project and this song specifically, because this song is the heart of the whole project.” “Hold Me” “‘Crash’ felt like it was sitting in its own world, and I needed to make something that made ‘Crash’ and all the dance music fit together. That was the intention going into the session. But also, I’d been making all this sad music. I had a moment to reflect and be like, ‘I need to remind myself I’m not a bad person, I’m actually OK sometimes, and I need to listen to myself and trust my gut and actually take care of myself.’ Because sometimes, when shit gets really hectic, I always forget to put myself first. And that’s so important.” “Settle Down” “‘Settle Down’ was like a switch-up. It was the first time I stepped into a persona of like, ‘I’m taking back my power, and I’m not taking shit anymore, and I’m gonna actually do what I want, and not be afraid, and I’m not scared of you. You should actually be scared of me.’ That’s kind of how it felt when I made this song. I really struggle to make angry music. But that one day, I was really angry and I was like, ‘You know what? I’m just gonna fucking make a song where I’m like, “Man, fuck you. I’m taking back my power today, and I’m not gonna be afraid anymore.”’”