I first fell for Emma Dean when her amazing album Dr Dream and the Imaginary Pop Cabaret was released. Led by the unforgettable single, Sincerely Fearful, it was a giddy journey through theatrical enchantment that still resonates over 3 years later. Emma is still providing the world with thought provoking & mesmerising music - most recently through a series of EPs entitled White, Red and (the upcoming) Black. I caught up with Red thanks to her opening for the wonderful Jinkx Monsoon show The Vaudevillians - and soon became enraptured by the piano driven, passionate pop that was contained within. If White was about new beginnings, Red embraces the crazy world of love - and often reminds me of the classic Spike line from Buffy The Vampire Slayer: "You'll be in love till it kills you both. You'll fight, and you'll shag, and you'll hate each other till it makes you quiver, but you'll never be friends. Love isn't brains, children, it's blood...blood screaming inside you to work its will." Emma takes that world of love and passion and heartbreak and surrounds it with sumptuous, elegant piano, lush soaring strings and her unique dramatic vocals. It's essential listening and here is my track by track review...
- My Blood My Heart ~ I love a song where the music is as much as part of the narrative as the all important lyrics. Built around tinkling piano melodies, the music builds into swooping, emphatic chords and crescendos into a soaring anthem complete with hand-clap percussion that mirrors the growing nature of passion; that often it can start all gentle and tentative before erupting in a fiery explosion of intensity & power. All the while, Emma's flawless vocal gives nuance to the emotions in the lyrics, pouring a all encompassing yearning & longing into this gorgeous tune. Mellifluous, delicious, evocative.
- Venus De Milo ~ When Emma taps into the lower part of her vocal register with such tentative, whispering sensuality as she does at the beginning of this song, you absolutely get the impression that something quite special is about to happen. You wouldn't be wrong. It's like some sort of mystical musical alchemy being conjured into being. A song about needing to feel, wanting that aching drive inside that love can give you, it leaves you with a sad, wistful energy as you can't help but visually recreate the titular statue in as part of a fiery relationship. The strings in this song are so exquisitely performed, so beautifully placed that it keeps the song moving forward with an innate grandiose rhythm that stirs your emotions and swells to it's pleading finale. Quite literally breathtaking.
- All The King's Horses ~ A vibrant, erudite piano riff powers this swirling tune into existence and it's almost 3 different songs in one, expertly blended so that you feel like you are accompanying Emma on a musical journey to exotic new destinations. Fasten your seatbelts because it's quite the ride. At time it's evocative of Eurythmics, others it is reminiscent of Alanis yet it remains distinctly Emma (most notably around the glorious "teach your children how to love" refrain). It utterly belongs as the electrifying end of Act One number to some fantastical musical that exists slightly outside the realm of our reality. Weird, wondrous and has you hitting repeat instantly to experience again and again.
- Tinkerbell (Down) ~ the tale of one of Disney's most well known fairies has never sounded so wicked. All those years yearning for Peter Pan yet he only has eyes for the far less magical Wendy? El Scandalo! Ominous piano in the verses soon builds to a rising intricate scale, giving way to the best piano work of the EP as Emma reveals that actually it's all a front to cover that she is on actually down. Devilishly clever lyrics given Emma free reign to do her thang as the most creative, imaginative, stimulating purveyor of words this side of Book of Mormon Broadway. She's never less than 100% committed to the music and the fact that each song has a distinctive character (yet retains an effortless flow throughout all 5 songs) is one of the many joys of this EP...
- Head In The Clouds ~ A dazzlingly effulgent and off kilter way to close this chapter of the EP trilogy. Almost nursery rhyme like in it's execution, Emma sings to nothing more than spellbinding chimes that allow her voice to be the anchor to this floating incantation. As textured, harmonised backing vocals give the song additional layers, you feel at one with the alluring conjuration that the music holds over you. A genuinely immense piece of work...
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