Emmy the Great’s first two full-length albums were breakup records, but it seems there’s been less heartbreak in her life in recent years, which has left the Hong Kong-born, Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter looking for new inspiration.
Rather than continuing with the introspective soul-searching that previously fuelled her soft indie folk songs, she’s now writing about the outside world after a heavy dose of travelling. She’s also set aside most of the acoustic folk references and embraced technology.
Despite the instrumentation and subject matter changes since 2011’s Virtue, this EP’s four songs aren’t a big departure. The music still has gentle intimacy, and her distinctively clear voice remains the focus. The production is shinier, which some might hear as poppier, but the overall feel is too quirky for the mainstream – and sometimes too twee for her own good.
Top track: Somerset (I Can’t Get Over)
