Emmy The Great 'First Love'

Have finally got round to giving the new Emmy The Great album the attention it deserves.

I saw Emmy (Emma-Lee Moss and assorted helpers) play at Union Chapel at the end of 07, supporting The Mountain Goats. I could have done without the nervous chat between songs (sometimes the band would chat amongst themselves, making the audience feel like they were sitting in on a rehearsal) but the songs were great; clever and witty lyrics sung well, over minimal backing of acoustic guitar and violin. This album has taken an age to arrive and Emmy has missed at least two windows of opportunity where UK female singer-songwriters were in 'vogue' but no matter because these songs have nothing to do with any particular trend.

'First Love' is interesting to me because it is a curious mix of the old and the new. On the one hand, the arrangements are old-fashioned low key folk mixed with some 60s pop influences and there are lyrics referencing Dylan, Cohen and old-school mix tapes. On the other hand, this feels like a modern record and not just because of the references to 24 and MIA. I like the fact that a number of songs mention listening to music and different songs soundtrack some of the stories on the record, this is taken almost to extremes on 'MIA' where a mix-tape continues to play after a car crash.

Quite often 'First Love' reminds me of early Belle & Sebastian. Its the mix of intelligent lyrics and simple, acoustic arrangements. The song 'Dylan' is a witty attack on the Dylan phase that every bloke seems to go through, with cutting lines such as "reading an Italian novel from the 13th century is not that hard to do", 'First Love' is an account of just that and a re-write of 'Hallelujah', which ironically captures more of the spirit of the original that most of the recent cover versions. Best of all is 'We Almost Had A Baby', a Spector-ish pop classic with harmonies and a killer melody.

'First Love' is a great debut, intelligent without taking itself too seriously and losing its sense of fun. Emmy did well to take her time over this record, it comes over as assured and confident.

8.0

['First Love' is out now]