live music review: emma louise, oxford art factory, 20 july 2012
Last night closed the curtains on what was a massive national tour from artist Emma Louise, in time for her performance at Splendour in the Grass next Friday. Sold-out shows, international attention and a number 23 spot in Triple J’s hottest 100 of 2011 suggest her performance next week is going to be sweet.
I first saw Emma Louise when her hit song ‘Jungle’ had just been released and was on heavy rotation in my playlist. She was essentially unknown, however was still able to make an entire crowd sit at her feet, in what could only be described as a Woodstock moment. Soft ‘60s harmonies are a feature of her style; she’s a classic hipster down to her silver ballet shoes.
Last night’s performance at the Oxford Art Factory in Darlinghurst was less subdued, but soaring soft chords still swayed the crowd. Her fans were primed by supporting acts DADS (Tom from Big Scary and his MacBook), who graced us with the soothing sound bites of Morgan Freeman, and Argentina, who were incredibly irresponsible with drumsticks.
Emma Louise opened with quiet chords, before moving into ‘Al’s Song’ from her 2011 EP. The angst in her songs about love and loneliness is still fresh, and her incredible ability to communicate her emotions elicits (I swear I’m not exaggerating) actual moans from the crowd. She relieved tensions early by then playing her newest single ‘Boy’, which she claims is about a “naughty boy” (well there you go). It’s a sad song that was sung teasingly and playfully, and had the audience shouting in reply.
We were hushed into an anxious state however, when she announced: “this song will be on my first album”. The new song flowed out with all her characteristic slow builds, heavy drums and moody chorus. Simply put, you need to buy her first album.
Emma Louise’s music wouldn’t be out of place in the background of a jazz bar, or a peaceful film noir moment. Her lyrics are poetic and thoughtful, and generally about love, which is fantastic because there’s a real lack of love songs in the music world. Emma Louise is writing in totally unexplored territory.
Still, there is truth and feeling in her music that is genuinely scarce. Emma Louise’s new song ‘Cages’ is about a bird named Henry who she was forced to give away, and it was embarrassing how moved we were as an audience about her little bird. Emma Louise’s maturity is evident in her newest songs, their sounds moving away from the moodiness of her EP and towards the clever storytelling styles of Sarah Blasko and Laura Marling.
Naturally, ‘Jungle’ was met with drunken shouts of appraisal, and her closing with another new song, ‘Sandalwood’, was equally appreciated. Emma Louise still looked bursting with energy and feeling, so look forward to an explosive performance at Splendour in the Grass. With her first album being prepped for release next year, now is your opportunity to become a big fan so you can brag to your friends, ‘I knew her first’.
By Jacob Evans
