In their home country of Australia, the indie-folk trio Little May are bona fide stars, capable of playing a string of sold-out shows and choice spots on the upcoming summer festival circuit that takes over the island nation in January and February. Outside of those borders, these ladies are picking up steam slowly but steadily, thanks to some well-known fans like the members of Mumford & Sons and The National, and the dark, delicate beauty and tightly-knit vocal harmonies that spread like a wildfire through the group’s debut full-length For The Company (released this past October). If you’re not yet acquainted with the sound of Little May, here are 10 things you need to know about this brilliant Sydney-based group. 

The Members of Little May Met While They Were in High School 

The young women bonded over a mutual obsession with music, which was encouraged by their equally smitten families. “We weren’t really listening to what was on the radio,” vocalist/guitarist Liz Drummond admits. “We were sharing record and covering songs that our parents were listening to. ‘70s rock really resonates with me. Hannah is obsessed with Bruce Springsteen. And Annie loves The Beatles.” 

Little May Also Points to the Influence of Their Home Country on Their Sound

Lover of the outdoors, the trio spends what free time they have hiking and camping, using the raw beauty and vast landscapes of Australia to feed the pastoral expanses of their sound. “It is so inspiring,” Drummond attests. “There are so many beautiful places where we can go and write.”

The Band is Often Referred to as “Ghost-Folk” 

Mentioned by someone in the group during an interview, the subgenre category keeps getting mentioned in reviews of Little May’s albums and live performances. They’ve since embraced it as there’s not really a better way to describe their distinctively haunted sound. 

The Members of Little May are Self-Taught Musicians 

Though Drummond grew up with an older brother who constantly played guitar (“mostly stuff like Rage Against The Machine and System of A Down,” she remembers), she and her bandmate Annie Hamilton learned how to play guitar and banjo, and how to harmonize vocally, without anyone’s help. 

Little May Owes Much of its Success in its Home Country to Triple J Radio 

The Australian radio giant embraced the band’s music early on, putting it into heavy rotation and helping get the word out about the group in Sydney and beyond. “They can’t make or break a band,” says Drummond, “but they’re so influential. It would be really hard to get heard without their help.” 

For The Company was Recorded with Aaron Dessner of The National 

The women of Little May are huge fans of his band, so when it came time to pick a producer for their first album, they dared to reach out to Dessner, even though they’d never met him before. “He is just a really, really amazing musician,” Drummond says. “He doesn’t overdo anything. Everything he brought to the album was so beautiful.”

For The Company was Recorded in a Converted Church 

Future Past Studios, in upstate New York, is a former Lutheran church that has been turned into a much in-demand recording space. In addition to Little May, the studio has welcomed The National, Yeah Yeah Yeahs drummer Brian Chase, and avant garde jazz legend John Zorn into its sanctuary. 

They Were Invited to Play as Part of Mumford & Sons’ Gentlemen of the Road Tour 

It was only one date of the Grammy-winning folk-pop band’s 2015 roadshow, at Seaside Heights, New Jersey, but it was a doozy. Little May shared the stage that day with The Flaming Lips and The Vaccines, and were invited onstage to provide backing vocals for Mumford & Sons. 

The Band Tours...a Lot

Since the release of their first EP in 2014, the trio has been on the road constantly, hitting clubs and festivals in Australia, Europe, and the US. And there’s no end in sight with the release of their first full-length, but that, according to Drummond, is just how they want it right now. “We’re all young so we should do it now while we have the opportunity,” she says. “We should be working our asses off and gigging as much as we can.” 

Little May is Going to be Touring a Lot Through 2016

“I have a feeling we probably will be,” Drummond says, with a laugh. “I hope we will be, right? I hope that we’d be doing gigs and stuff. If not, that would be a bit shit. I mean, we just got back from six weeks on the road, which is the perfect amount of time. But we’re keen to do more. It’s just so much fun.”