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]

Single Of The Week

Emmy The Great 'We Almost Had A Baby'

I first saw Emmy The Great supporting The Mountain Goats at Union Chapel about a year ago and left thinking that she was a very talented singer-songwriter and one to watch. Mixing clever and sometimes cutting lyrics with sweet melodies, her set at the Chapel perfectly fitted the folky vibe of the night.

Her album has been a very long time coming. Despite lots of record company interest, she has insisted on making the album her way and self-financing it. Judging by this first single it will be worth the wait when released in January. 'We Almost Had A Baby' is a jangly pop song of the highest order with swooning strings and 60s style backing vocals. It all sounds very accomplished indeed and while the song has a warm, Christmassy vibe, the lyrics are sharp and witty. Perfect for listening to on a walkman as you stroll along on a crisp Winter's night.

I'm going to stop now as I've used the word 'vibe' twice already in this review and it is all I can do to stop myself using 'cutting' a second time as well. This is SINGLE OF THE WEEK anyway.

['We Almost Had A Baby' is out now on 7" vinyl and digital download. 'Emmy The Great' is actually Emma-Lee Moss and assorted helpers, I meant to mention this in the actual review.]

Emmy The Great

While I still haven't got over the excitement of finally seeing The Mountain Goats play live and the joy of it being every bit as good as I hoped, I wanted to also write about how much I enjoyed the set from Emmy The Great.

Emmy is Emma-Lee Moss, born in Hong Kong, now living in London. She performed with a second singer/piano player and a violinist. Her songs are a mix of indie and folk, sounding a little like Belle & Sebastian may have sounded at times had Isobel Campbell had a stronger singing voice. She only played five or six songs but they were all strong and the performance of the band overall was very assured. Highlights were a superb cover of John Prine's 'Christmas in Prison' which has been stuck in my head ever since Saturday and current single 'Gabriel.

You can hear more on Emmy's Myspace site:
http://www.myspace.com/emmythegreat

The Mountain Goats - Union Chapel 8th December 2007

So, I finally got to see The Mountain Goats play live. Last night The Union Chapel played host to the Pineapple Folk Festival, featuring TMG, Micah P Hinson, Emmy The Great and Alisdair Roberts. With all due respect to the other artists though (and Emmy The Great played a very nice, if short, set) this, for me, was about finally seeing John Darnielle and Peter Hughes play their amazing songs live.

The Union Chapel is a beautiful venue, easily my favourite in London. The acoustics are as clear as you'll find anywhere and in between sets there is some lovely scenary to look at. The Goats arrived on stage at 8.30, wearing some smart suits which according to my girlfriend made Peter Hughes look like Nathan Petrelli from Heroes. John played acoustic guitar and sang and Peter played bass.

They opened with 'Wild Sage' from last year's 'Get Lonely' LP, John singing with the hushed whisper/gasp in evidence throughout that album. As the set progressed we were treated to some real favourites including 'Dance Music', 'Jenny' and 'This Year'. The atmosphere was fantastic, the auidence were so enthusiastic and John seemed really happy and looked to be enjoying himself immensely.. One of the highlights was him moving away from the microphone during 'Maybe Sprout Wings' to sing unamplified, the Church was so silent that you could hear him clearly and the effect was spine-tingling.

For the closing song of the main set they played 'Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton', yes, complete with the 'Hail Satan' singalong ending and were joined on stage by Eddie Argos from Art Brut. The only complaint I have was that the set wasn't longer, but it was great that a) John said they would be back in 2008 and b) the title track of the new LP 'Heretic Pride' was played and was absolutely brilliant...very lively and upbeat too.

This was a wonderful night, one of the best sets I have seen and I hope John enjoyed it as much as us fans did.

Full review of the Pineapple Folk night later in the week, but for now, here is the TMG setlist...

Wild Sage
Tollund Man
The Recognition Scene
You or Your Memory
Cobscook Bay
Love Love Love
Heretic Pride
Tulsa Imperative
Jenny
Dance Music
Maybe Sprout Wings
This Year
The Best Ever Death Metal band in Denton (with Eddie Argos from Art Brut)

Encore: Houseguest