Imelda May takes a turn toward punk

Growing up in a "typically Irish" household of seven in Dublin, Imelda May was exposed to all kinds of music. But when she heard Elvis and Eddie Cochran, well, that was it. It was life-altering.

"To a 13-year-old, it was very attractive, appealing, and quite dangerous," May, 40, recalls over the phone from her home in Hampshire, England. "I didn't know when it was made and I didn't care."

The young Imelda was particularly drawn to Elvis' Sun Sessions, the album that gathered his first recordings. Those groundbreaking rockabilly sides opened the door for her to explore country, blues, gospel, and jazz, all the way up to punk. She became so consumed with the music, she says, that at 15 she lost a boyfriend over it. (He gave her a mixtape; she sent him one of blues guitarist Elmore James, and never heard from him again.)

On her 2010 album, Mayhem, May lists inspirations ranging from Wanda Jackson to Billie Holiday, Elvis to Howlin' Wolf, Gene Vincent to Patsy Cline. You can hear her assimilate most of them into her own terrific music. A powerhouse vocalist who has accompanied Jeff Beck, May is equally at home rocking with the searing intensity of Jackson and delivering a ballad with the smoldering sultriness of Holiday. That she writes her own songs helps ensure that she doesn't come across as merely a revivalist.

"I don't want to be nostalgia, a gimmick," said May, whose husband, Darrel Higham, is the guitarist in her band. "I've been a musician since I was 16, and I want to continue to do this."

To that end, her new album, Tribal, her first in four years, takes a bit of a turn. While it has some ballads, the set mostly taps into May's punk influences.

"I love punk," says the singer, who also plays the bodhrán, an Irish drum. "I love the Ramones, the Clash, the Cramps, Stiff Little Fingers, the Undertones, the Violent Femmes - great, great bands I've listened to for many years.

"I knew I hadn't made an album [in some time], so I wanted to come back with a bang. It was fun for me, and you want to progress.

"I wanted to capture two things: the rawness of the music I love, from rockabilly to punk, and also the madness and wildness we feel on stage when we play live. I'm lucky. I have a great, great band that can really rock out, and we really go for it when we play live."