Emmy The Great is most definitely not old news. We had a nice ol’ catch up to find out about her shiny new album that’s most surely nothing to do with Valentines.
Noize: So, the last time spoke to you it was May, what’s happened since then?

Emmy: Well, I got back together with my boyfriend..

N: That’s always lovely. Glad to hear. Any festivals and all that?

E: We played the John Peel stage at Glastonbury, that’s basically my entire ambition in music. So. John Peel stage. Done.

N: Brilliant. You can try your hand at another career now. But at the moment you have a new album out? Why was it so long coming?

E: Well when I spoke to you last it was pretty much finished, but because we’re putting it out ourselves,[own label: Close Harbour] there were like so many obstacles and we hit a big one over the summer and because of that we had to wait until January. You can’t put anything out between October and January because of the Christmas run-up. It’s like only massive bands. So, yeah, it was coming out in September when I spoke to you, but.. we fucked up.

N: But it’s here now. Is it a coincidence then, that it’s called ‘First Love’ and it’s out at Valentines?

E: It’s a complete coincidence yeah. I was really angry when I heard about that as well. Every thing that’s happened has been annoying. The whole ‘Hallelujah’ over Christmas, it was like for god’s sake, if we put the album out in September, then our song would be about Alexandra Burke. And now it’s coming out at Valentines.

N: On the bright side, people who are stuck for a gift might buy it? Lyrically, your songs on the album are quite ‘girly’ and lovely but do you think that’s accessible?

E: Well it’s more feminine yeah, but I don’t know.. I most of those lyrics are stuff I’ve written in the process of becoming a woman? I don’t mean, I got my period, but stuff like stuff that I didn’t know about before.

N: The artwork, like the album cover is lovely too. Where did you get the idea for that? Did you do it yourself?

E: I made it with my friend, have you seen the actual artwork? Not the tree?

N: No, just the actual album cover?

E: Yeah, me and my friend made it, in her bedroom.

N: So was it a shared idea?

E: Well, I was on the bed making houmous, and she was working. Then I’d like look up from Monsters Inc, and be like ‘no, put the round bit there’.

N: Well it turned out lovely jubbly. So what’s next. Are you releasing a single off the album?

E: Well ‘First Love’ will be the next single off the album, then we’re going to finish this tour, and I’m going to decide if whether or not I can be alive anymore and then I’m going to write another album

N: Sounds a good plan. With the whole emergence of folky-ness last year, do you feel you’ve been shoved in the Noah and the Whale, Laura Marling lump?

E: Yeah, I feel it’s a lump. I was making this music before those guys were making music. It just took me longer to do it. And that’s a shame for me, but I feel that we’ve bypassed the whole anti folk thing now. Because you do and its been four years and you’re not into that shit anymore. If we do sound like them, then it’s a coincidence.

N: Do you feel you’ve been overlooked?

E: No, I feel we’ve been lucky, you know some people take longer.

N: It could be beneficial.

E: Well, one of the benefits that we could see from putting the album out in January is that we would be separate from them. You know, last year they all put out their albums, and this is like a new year, separate from them.

N: Yes. They’re old news/hypeyness anyway. Hurrah for Emmy The Great.

E: Definitely.

By Peta Richards
Photo by Sam Seager

www.myspace.com/emmythegreat

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON THIS ARTIST