Emmy The Great - We Almost Had A Baby (Rough Trade)
UK release date: 10 November 2008
At first listen, Emmy The Great is just another quiet, sensible singer/songwriter with an acoustic guitar and a nice way with words. Look beneath the surface though, and you'll find out that there's an awful lot more to her than that.
She's slowly built up a name for herself this year, be it working with Lightspeed Champion, or recording some wonderful demo tracks - deceptively pretty melodies under which hide dark tales of death, abuse and emotional torment.
We Almost Had A Baby is in that tradition, being all lovely, wistful and hummable - and then you listen to the lyrics, which are a brilliantly written dissection of a poisonous relationship, in which Emmy fantasies about becoming pregnant just so she could have the upper hand over her ex ("I would have liked to have something above you to have something to hold, and know i could choose to let it grow").
The good news is that there's some even better stuff in her catalogue, as the forthcoming album First Love, due out in January, will no doubt prove. Get ready to welcome one of the stars of 2009.
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