Bethany Emma Davey (born July 28, 1998) is an English singer and songwriter. She first gained popularity at the age of 15, after being selected to be a member of The Poppy Girls, a British girl group. She released her debut EP under her stage name Nova May, Identity, in 2022. Her second EP, I Am The Club, was released in 2024. She is a member of the Loud LDN collective.

Davey was born on July 28th, 1998 in Gravesend, Kent to Lisa and Dean Davey. Her father served in the 9th/12th Royal Lancers and the Army Reserves. She has a brother named Keir. The family moved to Dartford, where Davey grew up.^[2]

In 2013, the Royal British Legion formed the girl group The Poppy Girls with the intention of raising money as part of the Poppy Appeal charity.^[3] Davey participated in the auditions, which included over a thousand contestants, all of whom had British soldiers in the family. Ultimately, Davey was selected to be one of the five members of the group, which was signed to Decca Records.^[4]

The band would go on to perform at the Festival of Remembrance, which was attended by Queen Elizabeth II and David Cameron.^[5] Their debut single, "The Call (No Need To Say Goodbye)", was written by American singer Regina Spektor. The song was originally written and recorded for the soundtrack of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. The single was released on November 10th (Remembrance Sunday) and debuted at number 13 on the UK singles chart. The band's album, No Need To Say Goodbye, was released two weeks later on November 25th and peaked at number 62 on the UK albums chart.

Davey would later recall her involvement in the project as instrumental in the choice of her career path, saying "It cemented my path in my mind and truly made me realise how much I wanted to succeed in music not only as a singer but also as a songwriter and artist."^[6]

Davey continued to sing after the conclusion of The Poppy Girls, however only returned to releasing music in 2018. She would release several singles under her full name, including "Falling Down" and "Heavy Days".^[7][8]

In October of 2020, Davey was signed to Global Rockstar Music Publishing, an Austrian label, and changed her stage name to Nova May.^[9] Her first two releases under this name would be collaborations with Tom Ferry and Xoro & T.Matthias, which to this day remain her most popular songs on Spotify. On November 12th, 2021, she released her first solo single as Nova May, "Pay For Your Love".^[10] She began releasing songs for her upcoming first EP in 2022 with the single "Hate You".^[4] Her next single, "Winner", would mark her first collaboration with the producer Julez (later known as 444BOY).^[6] She would release two more singles, "Go Mad" and "Set Your House On Fire", before releasing her EP Identity. Some of the songwriters involved in the release included Scottish singer ili, English singer Glowe and Austrian singer Felicia Lu.

After the conclusion of the project, Davey went back to releasing music independently. Continuing to work with 444BOY, her 2023 single, "Bab3 Station", marked a shift into more hyperpop inspired music. Her 2024 single "Troy" drew comparisons to "S&M" by Rihanna, as well as the music of Slayyyter.^[11] Davey's second EP (sometimes also referred to as a mixtape), I Am The Club, would be released on September 6th of the same year, and would be frequently compared to Brat by Charli XCX, which Davey responded to with "People just love to compare female artists and I get the Charli comparison a lot – which is a huge compliment – but she wasn’t a reference for this project."^[12]

In 2025 Davey would release "I Got The Bag", her first song as part of Rottwe1ler, a music project with her producer 444BOY. She would also subsequently start releasing songs for her upcoming third EP, those being the singles "Big Fat Monsta Truck" and "Starbounce".^[13]

Davey has mentioned Raye as one of her biggest inspirations, especially during the transition from her past in electronic/dance music to solo releases, which the two singers both went through.^[6] When talking about her inspirations for the I Am The Club, she underlined Lady Gaga's music. For her vocal style, she credits Christina Aguilera as an inspiration, namely her work in Moulin Rouge!. She also lists Pvris, Charli XCX, Kim Petras, Cobrah, Will.i.am, Kesha, and Rihanna as influences.^[14][15]

Self-described as "pop with a bite", the songwriting in Davey's music often tackles the subjects of self-confidence and perseverance, and also sometimes delves into past personal experiences with love and rejection in the music industry. When asked about the concept behind I Am The Club, Davey recalled the feeling of escapism she found in recession pop of the 2000s.^[14]