Emmy The Great has always had a way with words. Her big break came in 2009 when she contributed the song “Seattle” to the Brighton Port Authority, an album by famed producer Fatboy Slim that also featured such heavyweights as David Byrne and Iggy Pop. The London-based singer showed her fascination with the U.S. in “Seattle,” which had as poetic a description of sunrise as you’ll ever hear in a pop song: “a blue sky forming like a wire warming up America.” In 2011, her second record, Virtue, spawned the single “Paper Forest (In The Afterglow Of Rapture),” which found Emmy “standing in the afterglow of rapture with the words the rapture left.”
Skip to 2015, and Emmy The Great is now living in Brooklyn and finishing her third full-length. To tide us over, she’s issued a four-song EP, S (each track’s title begins with the letter S), and while the wordplay is still there, you’ll hear an increased depth and elegance of texture. Born Emma-Lee Moss in Hong Kong before moving to London as a kid, Emmy no longer seems content to base her songs on just her voice and guitar.
Watch Emmy The Great and her band play two of her new songs, including the haunted single “Swimming Pool,” as well as an old favorite, in the Soundcheck studio.
Set List:
- "Swimming Pool"
- "Paper Forest (In The Afterglow Of Rapture)"
- "Social Halo"