Emmy The Great – First Love Review
I’ve had my hands on Emmy The Great’s album First Love for a few months now and I figure, this review is probably really overdue, especially since Allan wrote about her then-upcoming release way back in January.
My friends and I had been waiting for an album release since discovering her several years back, but between that, she had released a bunch of EPs and singles. So, it comes to no surprise that I really liked this album. In fact, I think already being familiar with most of the tunes made it more of an intimate record for fans to finally “bring it all together.” And to make it even better, I also received an acoustic bonus CD of her playing a few tracks live in London, which I will also be reviewing in this post.
I’ve always liked Emmy The Great for her lyrical quirkiness and her happy folk music, where she often brings in a lot of influences that are even obvious in her lyrics. Her weapon of choice works well: humour, pop cultural references, and whimsical storytelling about life, death, and all in between. One of the songs that I’ve never heard before is “24,” probably stylistically the most different in that it is a more mellower, depressing track about being a year older and a year less in love. Even though it’s quite different from what I was used to, I really liked this track.
Emmy also has a great voice: it is pure and sweet, perfect for the music. Although it would be wrong to associate her voice to an angel, which is opposite of what she tries to convey, I think. Although she uses Christian terms in several songs, I think it is a nod to the likes of Leonard Cohen, where “Hallelujah” wasn’t exactly meant to praise the Lord himself. That’s what I found throughout the whole album: she makes lots of pop culture references, even if it is out of context. It’s what makes it quirky in itself, I suppose. For example, in “M.I.A.”: I always liked this singer/I remember how you were the one who told me that her name/Was either Mia/Or M.I.A.”.
The lyrics in itself are pretty blatant and bold, which are really just the real human emotions and thoughts we all have but aren’t gutsy enough to verbally convey. Emmy seems to take the fall for the rest of us, but I respect her writing–actually, I commend it. In an ironic way, her lyrics are probably considered quirky because she comes out with what we want but are afraid to say. Like in the title track: “I would forget that I’d piss on a grave and the words as they came to my tongue were Hallelujah.” Well, maybe it’s better if we’d keep our mouths closed for that one.
The bonus CD, where she plays live at 12 Bar, London, is a nice accompaniment to the album. She plays about five of the songs found on the album, and even includes a cover version of The Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind?” which gained massive popularity over the Internet when she had put it up on her MySpace. I always like live albums because it’s not always played the same exact way as studio albums, as Emmy also demonstrates with her band. I’m always a fan of minimalistic music, and that’s what this live CD has to offer when it’s just her, her guitar, and a sweet violin playing along.
All in all, really good album and the ratings from NME and Drowned in Sound are well-deserved. It’s a fantastic album, even if it was long-awaited (which is probably a smart move, anyway). Now I wonder how long her next album will take…I just kid. I’d wait with all my heart for Emmy The Great.
First Love:
Emmy The Great – 24
Emmy The Great – First Love
Emmy The Great – City Song
Acoustic Bonus CD – Live at 12 Bar, London:
Emmy The Great – M.I.A.
Tags: album
