This six-track project from Blackpool lass and MA in Songwriting Emma was launched in February to her most loyal fans. She knows the marketing/PR side of music and she’s an example of what an independent act should be doing.
Husbands or Kids is the opener, which packs a mighty punch. It is true to the genre: an enormous backbeat, veiled autobiography, a rhyme of complicated/jaded, wonderful twangin’ guitar solo and anthemic, wide open vocals. Blinded (‘by your fantasy’) is a narration of a girl trapped in the love she has for her beau, and I can’t tell if Emma sympathises or calls her a fool, only that the situation drives her ‘crazy’. Match Made In Hell tells a similar story with a lot of vim and electricity. The lead up to the final chorus is particularly good. The arrangements are terrific, especially for an artist funding the release herself. Merch is available at emmamoore.co.uk.
There are ballads, as there always are. When is the centrepiece here, a cheating song on which Emma wonders when the moment of infidelity occurred. Late to the Table sounds like 11pm at the best bar in town even as it is a psychological drama; the chorus twists and turns, modulating up to E major and adding some fun chords to a tortured vocal performance. Waiting For You is a forlorn tune with great instrumentation and a lyric full of acceptance that an ex’s new belle is far better for him than Emma. The music sounds like teardrops hitting the guitar, which is itself gently weeping. It’s sad.
A Country Way of Life 