“I'm a very angry woman,” Miraa May tells Apple Music. “I’m trying to deal with that through music.” Growing up as an Algerian-born Muslim in Tottenham came with its struggles, and this garage-influenced EP is May’s space to reflect on that. Her hypnotic vocals cover incredibly tough subject matter: domestic abuse, poverty, gender expectations and refusing to sexualise her music. “When you listen to what I'm saying, it’s very violent,” she says. “I'm everything people tell a woman not to be.” But she doesn’t expect these frustrations to linger indefinitely. “It's been very difficult, this journey, but we're here and I've never felt more positive in my life. This is the last EP I'm going to put out with negative emotions. I'm cleansing.” Here, she guides us through Dark’s six cathartic tracks. “Work” “The first line is ‘This isn't a love song, I'm just trying to figure it out.’ I don't want people to assume that because I'm a woman and sometimes I sing about relationships, that I just write love songs. This track starts off very slow and then switches up halfway through. It’s a good intro to the EP.” “What I Smoke” “A lot of people look at me and say, ‘She's not a lady.’ I sit with my legs wide open. That’s who I am. There's this social construct that women should be seen and not heard. This song is basically just a big fuck-you to all of that. Man, woman, whoever—if you're trying to tear down my confidence or break me down, I'm going to fight you. I'm not going to stand there and take it just because I'm a woman. I've been through some abuse in my life, and it makes us hard on the inside. We should celebrate that, because we've survived the abuse and we're still here and we're still conquering.” “Bad Behaviour” “This was a straight freestyle. It went straight from my head to the mic; there was absolutely no filter. It’s about my ex but not too much about him, because I'd hate for people to think that I don't have other things to say. Starting with ‘You're a prick’ is pretty self-explanatory.” “No Shame” “I definitely came from poverty. I'm a benefits baby. We never went on holiday—music gave me my first holiday. I went to work with Salaam Remi in Miami and I'd never been on a plane. I've made a lot of money, and I have absolutely no shame about that. The lyric ‘I'm a moneymaker, bet they want to see my moneymaker’ is about people selling sex. I'm not that person.” “Think That” “I don't use my voice the way I should; I can really sing but I'm more concerned about the message I'm putting out, hence why my songs are rappy sometimes. The time is coming when I'm going to show people my vocal skills, but right now I've got too much to say to be singing. Here, I'm in love. I've found someone that I absolutely adore and I've never felt more love in my whole life.” “Angles” (feat. JME) “I've known the Adenuga family for a couple of years now. Julie introduced me to JME. He did a mixtape for Noisey, and I was a part of that. I wrote ‘Angles’ about five years ago and we revamped it. Originally JME wasn't on it, but I texted him to ask if he wanted to jump on it. He wrote a verse and sent it to me the next day. I'm sick of all this clout shit. People are not talented, they're just robots who live off Instagram. Drake likes your picture? Now everyone wants to be your friend? Pfft. There's shit going on in the world and all you do is just take selfies, Jesus Christ.”