Some two or three years ago I stumbled across a track online by Emmy the Great called 'Canopies & Grapes'. Ever since, I've been waiting desperately for a debut album, devouring every track I could find, taking every chance to see her live that I could, until I had a physical album release in my hands. Today, thirty tracks and six gigs later, I held just that.
It's interesting how you can spend so long engulfed in someone's music only to have them take you completely and utterly by surprise. Many of my favourite tracks from Emmy's live shows and that I scraped together from the internet aren't on the album. 'Gabriel' was a particularly surprising choice not to include, as was Hold On. Canopies and Grapes, which I've never seen her perform, or even mention, was less of a surprise.
Still, of thirteen tracks, seven are ones I've never even heard before, and the six that I had are so fresh, so much fuller in their production, that it's like the first time all over again. There, I suppose, is an irony. For many of those who buy 'First Love', it will in fact be a second, or perhaps even a third time that they have heard and loved some of the best tracks.
It doesn't really matter, though, when the music is so full of life and emotions. I'm not afraid to say that Easter Parade, my favourite Emmy demo, has developed so much it literally took my breath away. I'm not going to post any tracks from the album, so desperate am I for Emmy to get every damn penny you own. Instead, enjoy my First Love from Emmy's minimal back catologue, and my Second.
First Love: 'Canopies and Grapes' - Emmy The Great
Second Love: 'Easter Parade (Demo)' - Emmy The Great
