Ego Ella May values patience. The South London native’s sophomore album Good Intentions comes some six years removed from Honey for Wounds, a debut so earnest that it left the earliest converts of May’s music clamoring for more of her signature blend of jazz, R&B, and soul. Luckily for those fans, the years between only served to sharpen May’s perspective. On Good Intentions, the singer explores love in its many forms, touching on one-on-one intimacy, of course, but also cultural identity and roots. Opener “Hold On” tells of a connection that sounds soft and pure, as if manifested. But tension arrives with “Don’t Take My Lover Away,” May singing, “Gripping his hands, I hope it lasts and live to tell the tale/This heart can’t take any more farewells.” By the time of “Love Is a Heavy Thing,” May’s message has crystalized: Love is as much a responsibility as it is a feeling. You hear this in another way on “We’re Not Free,” where she widens the lens to include community. And with “Pot Luck Baby,” May is looking inward, grappling with heritage and identity. There are, of course, so many ways to show and be shown love, and thanks to Ego Ella May, you can know many of them through Good Intentions.