ALBUM REVIEW: Emmy The Great – First Love

It was only on listening to this album that I remembered the part in Emmy the Great's live show at The Green Man where she played First Love with it's line about “Hallelujah, the original Leonard Cohen version”. This also reminded me that at least two other bands that we saw that weekend actually played Hallelujah, and I hadn't been reminded of that by the two versions that are currently top of the charts. I'm not sure what this says about either my memory or the relevance of the hit parade but I guess maybe the musical world has rallied around after hearing Leonard's money problems leading to his tour last year. Anyway, I digress, and that is unfair because this album is a lovely piece of work, reminiscent of last years Laura Marling debut, a folkified sing song without cockerney stylings. Emmy has performed with the likes of Lightspeed Champion and supported Martha Wainwright in the last year but this record has been self produced, funded and released and deserves a look. From the choral opening of Absentee to the rising plucked march  of Bad Things Coming there are some great songs on here. Dylan is a rollicking good time but these songs, as sweet as they sound on first listen, usually have some sex and death in there, the name of the album is apparently from Samuel Beckett's novella about a lover who leaves the woman he impregnates after she meets him on a park bench.

Anyway, I'm expecting this album to grow on me steadily throughout the year to come and hopefully success will go hand in hand.

IM
Release Date: 2 Feb 2009

Press Contact: Freeman PR