i pretty much blog everything emmy the great does these days. i like it that way though. not only is she an immensely talented singer songwriter and funny, but she’s also seeing tim wheeler. tim wheeler is one of my all time heroes. what a man. what a woman. this is another top notch track from a top notch album from a top notch woman. super.
it’s been a quiet month here on sockformation thanks to me moving and finding out that virgin media can’t service my flat. the shits. that means that the playlist for june doesn’t fit in with the posts quite as simply. that’s nice in a way though as you can hear what i’ve been listening to on the bus every morning instead.
one of the mains things is monsieur serge gainsbourg. i watched the biopic and my obsession with all things to do with cool french people smoking just increased. what a man. anybody who has ever looked at the header here will know that i’m a bardot fan of course, but funnily enough after watching the film i’ve decided that serge and jane birkin are my new couple crush. what a pair they were. having said that it’s a bardot duet that i’ve gone and included on here so that makes little sense.
you can get your playlist here and i’ll be back with more frequent posts soon.
album review: emmy the great. virtues. 6 june 2011. close harbour records
(buy here)
when emmy the great released her debut, first love, it was at the height of the uk’s new found love for folk, or anti-folk as some decided to inexplicably label it. since then there has seen a backlash to some (mumford & sons), but many more have gone on to set the bar very high as the world has fallen head over heals for laura marling, bon iver et al.
this time around emmy has moved the sound across slightly. although the same folky twinge is still there, this album offers a variation throughout. indeed, the fantastically titled opener ‘dinosaur sex’ could be straight from alex turner’s superb submarine soundtrack. albeit with emmy’s beautiful female voice instead of turner’s distinctive sheffield accent.
the themes of the album remain similar to the first, if not slightly more out there. anybody who follows her on twitter will know that she actually has a wicked sense of humour and this certainly comes across. after the breakup of her engagement the album became a lot more personal to her, and her personality really shines through.
with so much expectation and then changes to her life during the writing this could have easily ended up the pile entitled “big disappointment”, but instead emmy the great has come back with an album worthy of her moniker.
7.5
this review originally appeared on the 405. just yesterday in fact.
to proceed her album release emmy will be releasing ‘iris’ on monday. it’s the best song that isn’t about the cast of the land before time bumping uglies on the record. the video has emmy, a shed and a little girl who presumably represents the titular iris.
