I always
enjoy a frisson, when a song mentions another musician or group. It seems logical
that as music is such a major part of life, that it should acknowledge itself. On
her first album, Emmy the Great scattered mentions for Leonard Cohen, MIA and
Dylan, but the bonus track "Canopies and Drapes" is the mother-lode.
Emmy the
Great is the alias of Emma Lee Moss, a singer songwriter born in Hong Kong, but
now based in the UK. I think it was Word magazine that first introduced me to
the debut "First Love", an album of wordy confessional songs of love
and life, with acoustic guitar prevalent. She is a good writer too, often
contributing to the Guardian and websites.
"Canopies
and Drapes" is a rollercoaster ride, through a teenage break up, amid a
deluge of musical touchstones. The wry early line "I feel worse / Than
when S Club 7 broke up" always makes me smile, as it dates the song from the early 2000s but also
adroitly casts the protagonist as a heart-broken adolescent.
Like everyone,
she has sought refuge in music during this emotional time ("Since you've
gone my only friends are Billy Bragg and The Jam / Though my time with you has
got me feeling oh so k.d. lang"). Music
had obviously been such a bond for the couple, so it will be a constant trigger
when she is alone. She includes a wide range such Billy Joel, Magnet Fields and
Bowie, and even throws in "a routine episode of Friends" and Woody
Allen.
She then
unadvisedly makes a drunken call to her ex's father, fishing for information, and
warning that a borrowed book - " I'm gonna burn it in the street be so
kind as let him know". Finally, she realises that she will get over
him eventually ("teach the
mattress to expel you from its folds"), and he will be a distant
memory.
The song
proceeds at a breakneck pace, Moss
rattling out words machine gun style, with just her acoustic guitar providing
support. It seems more like a poem, with
no chorus, just lengthy verses and the title buried near the end.
Emmy the Great
has never had a chart singles, her albums never sold in the quantities of her contemporary
Laura Marling, but she remains an intriguing and engaging writer, who is worth
investigating.
Hear Now - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E1sLSpH1Jc
Hear Next -
Her debut ""First Love" is still her best.
** The book of "Song from a Quarantine" is now available on all Amazon sites in paperback and ebook formats - https://tinyurl.com/y43mbr2b
** The book of "Song from a Quarantine" is now available on all Amazon sites in paperback and ebook formats - https://tinyurl.com/y43mbr2b
