Emmy the Great @ NAC
I am definitely on board.
Emma Lee-Moss makes a triumphant return to Norwich Arts Centre to celebrate the release of her third solo album, seven years after the 2009 debut of First Love. In between came Virtue, and the wonderful This Is Christmas collaboration with Tim Wheeler. We are perhaps anticipating an older and wiser Emmy the Great, replacing the compact and ever-so-slightly kooky version of before, but she's now rumoured to have abandoned anti-folk for a more electronic sound. What will tonight reveal?
Well, first up is a local singer songwriter by the name of Leaone, who apparently has known Emma since his college days. I only learnt of him recently, but he has one of those voices that manages to combine contemporary with classic to deadly effect. Accompanied by backing tracks and a live guitar he conjures up memories of Jacques Brel and Scott Walker in a stylised package that would blow Hurts out of the water in an atmospheric death-match. Watch the video for Young Green Eyes and you are transported to the Paris of Goddard and Agnès Varda.
(https://soundcloud.com/hisnameisleaone/younggreeneyes)
London-based DEMS are the main tour support, and we are now on full-scale electronica alert. I mean, they are good, and when the bass is turned up the Wild Beasts style vocals combine to produce a richly satisfying starter, but I am still worrying about the main course.
Not that I really needed to panic. Despite the monochromatic mood set by Emma, and the band being dressed in black, and playing against the Art Centre's dark backdrop, the original colours still manage to shine through. A mirrored pair of screens project an elegant and stylishly choreographed video, and, yes, the keyboards and sequencers have come out to play, but it is the reassuring sound of Dinosaur Sex that primes us for the new songs – Part of Me, Social Halo and Algorithm, before returning us to the warmth and security of We Almost Had a Baby.
Another new song, Phoenixes, serves as both tribute to brothers River and Joaquin yet provides social comment on the explosion of technology in our lives. And that is what makes Emmy the Great such a rewarding listen. Acoustically or electronically, it is the clever wordplay and combination of melody and message that continues to make Ms Lee-Moss a one-off.
Every song off Second Love yields another fresh delight. The addition of familiar favourites like Edward is Dedward, and an updated Canopies and Drapes combine to top off a wonderful feast.
Emmy the Great proves tonight that technology can co-exist alongside indie-folk and intelligent lyricism, thereby encouraging and welcoming new listeners without alienating the stalwarts. I am definitely on board.
