Emmy the Great: First Love
Emmy the Great: First Love
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Tuesday, 03, Feb 2009 12:22
Close Harbour, February 2nd.
In a nutshell...
Pre-eminent, pretty, prurient, prickly, precocious
What's it all about?
A huge clue as to the theme underpinning First Love's 13 tracks is that the album takes it's name from the 1973 novella of the same name by ascetic Irish writer Samuel Beckett, which contrasts the futility of existence with the giddy emotional harmony of falling in love. So 24 ponders the age old question of whether it's worth marrying an insensitive clod simply for the Jack Dash, Dylan lampoons the kind of pretentious prick who thinks the culture by which they define their lack of any discernable personality makes them untouchable and On The Museum Island tells the tale of lovers fleeing to Berlin to escape the troubles that hound them.
Who's it by?
Despite first coming to public attention in 2005, when she was tipped for the top by various sections of the music media, solid facts on exactly who Emmy The Great is are harder to come by than a copy of Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong's debut album.
What seems to be for certain is that she was born Emma-Lee Moss in Hong Kong and emigrated to London, where she is still based, with her family as a child, that she released a hotchpotch of singles and EPs for various labels between 2006 and 2008 and appeared on the debut album of Lightspeed Champion, former Test Icicle Devonte Hynes, which was released last year.
Less reliable are reports of her having gone to school with folk luvvy Johnny Flynn, that she's BFF with MIA and that a former manager got Moss her first recording contract simply by sending photos of her to record labels.
As an example...
"I'd marry you for money/Yes I'd marry you for money/I'd marry you for money/If it stuck/I'd marry you for money/But I don't suppose you'll ever have enough." - 24
"Well you know what they say/About terrible hate/It breeds something good when it's through" - On The Museum Island
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
Even as recently as 2005, when Emmy first began to tout her greatness, the idea of a British female singer garnering mainstream critical acclaim and commercial success without resorting to Asda price American R 'n' B (hello Jamelia!) or embarrassing Janis Joplin pastiches for wannabe hippies to listen to in their company cars (hello Joss Stone!) was about as plausible as Bono gaining a sense of modesty.
Four years, one Winehouse, one Lily and a bunch of cash in copyists later (hello Duffy!), the stock of British female solo artists couldn't be much higher. Add to that the fact that Reading folk prodigy Laura Marling is a current darling of the UK music press and defunct early noughties anti-folk jesters the Moldy Peaches enjoyed a critical re-evaluation over the pond last year thanks to their appearance on the soundtrack to teen pregnancy flick Juno and there's a good chance that Emmy's greatness could yet grace a grander stage.
What the others say
"... the album shines with all the appeal that makes Emmy great. Lyrics that are dark, humorous and full of brilliantly evocative imagery - all veiled beneath teasingly playful melodies and a disarmingly sugared deliverance." - Luisa Gerstein, Amelia's Magazine
"Emmy's songs are neat and petite, but that's rarely a measure of their impact." - Bella Todd, Time Out
So is it any good?
First Love opens with the typical gentle folk strumming and delicately picked arpeggio of Absentee. While the addition of hazy childhood memory-heavy lyrics and an accordion that leads to an almost Pogues-esque shanty of a chorus lift it above standard folk fare, it isn't likely to prevent those who had their fill of tweeness and charity shop waistcoats from the likes of Noah and the Whale last year from rolling their eyes at the predictability of it all.
However, the title track shows that Emma-Lee Moss isn't just another Plath-reading, hairclip-collecting, ukulele-toting Joni-worshipper. It's a tale of two young lovers who spend the initial fervor of romance listening to a stuck tape of Hallelujah ("The original Leonard Cohen version", as the lyrics stress) before drifting apart. Here Moss fearlessly tears apart a sacred cow of a song that has a higher profile than ever thanks to its X Factor massacring and sews it back together to create a triumphant march that's as jubilant as it is defiant.
The more traditional but equally rousing country-ish, Theme From Rawhide thump of Dylan is proof that the inspired title track is no red herring and on the accordion-led sunset lilt of MIA and the longing, plaintive piano of Everything Reminds Me Of You, Ms The Great exhibits an ability to move her audience to desire and despair that might even impress Laughin' Len himself.
Although the likes of The Easter Parade and City Song perhaps get a little too close to mobile phone advert territory; First Love effortlessly puts a fresh spin on a genre that is easily pigeon-holed and all too often pastiched. While Emmy may not yet have attained the heights of her ballsy moniker, you wouldn't bet against her having the imagination or independence to do so in the future.
6/10
Kelvin Goodson
"Sorry but Duffy's album was four years in the making... Rockferry was a free download in the Observer newspaper before Back2Black was even released. Oh and Duffy's blues voice was being written up in the national press in 2003 before Amy had even been mentioned. A little basic research, it doesn't hurt." - Vlad the Impala
"Funny her material only sold once Universal decided to throw marketing money at her after the success of Back to Black... " - Entertainment Editor