Emmy The Great-First Love-(Advance)-2009-DV8

Artist: Emmy The Great

Title: First Love

Label: Close Harbour

Genre: Folk

Bitrate: 157kbit av.

Time: 00:45:42

Size: 54.02 mb

Rip Date: 2009-01-22

Str Date: 2009-02-09



1. Absentee 3:57

2. 24 3:01

3. We Almost Had A Baby 2:55

4. The Easter Parade 3:26

5. Dylan 3:32

6. On The Museum Island 4:10

7. War 1:53

8. First Love 4:36

9. MIA 3:25

10. The Easter Parade 2 1:45

11. Bad Things Coming, We Are Safe 4:00

12. Everything Reminds Me Of You 5:54

13. City Song 3:08



Release Notes:



The title of this album could not be more fitting. Emmy The

Great's first record strives to capture that magical, muddled

debut attempt at meaningful connection. It is a startlingly

intimate, patchy record that is not destined or designed to be

adored forever. Yet, while it lasts, it is easy to kid

yourself that it is surprisingly wonderful, for all of its

blemishes and imperfections.



It is unashamedly stark in its subject matter, with Emmy's

young heart laid on the line from its opening and tied there

until its end. Simple arrangements tangle around her lines of

loss, affection, despondency and humour. There is little

inflection from the theme, but the likes of We Almost Had A

Baby and Dylan are delivered with sincerity and manage to

cajole fondness for their singer.



References are sewn throughout, from the aforementioned

Zimmerman nod to the title track, which picks at Leonard

Cohen's Hallelujah with at least more invention than a certain

X Factor winner. The highlight of these artist allusions,

though, is MIA, a delicate acoustic strum playing with the

tapestry of an innocuous conversation concerning the singer.



Emmy's voice is unspectacular, but this fits the sparse sound

by never overpowering it, such as on Everything Reminds Me Of

You. It allows the lines to shine more, which betrays her

immaturity as a writer, but also showcases the standout lines.

Also, for those who enjoy the soap-style relations between the

whole new-folk scene, there is plenty of scope for speculation

about the subjects of lyrics.



One song that should have been cut is 24, a hackneyed hash

that loosely hangs upon the foundations of the hit US

television show and is neither clever nor interesting. But the

misses are rare, Emmy's dreamy style just about carrying off

numerous corny moments, such as grating references to 13th

century Italian literature and the shipping news.



Regardless, On The Museum Island makes up for these. As she

focuses on friendship, clarity flows out of lines of a Berlin

escape filled with renewal and remembrance. If it wasn't so

dainty it would be harrowing, such is the unrelenting

emotional nature of the content.



The album triumphs through its honesty more than anything, its

personal nature - self released, funded and produced -

validating this. There isn't a throwaway happy folk jig in

sight, even the throwaways deal with heartache. But this is

fitting, creating a record filled with substance despite its

prettiness, which makes it hard to forget, like your very own

first one that got away.