Photo by Billie Frances
With her new EP ‘My Arms Are Open’ releasing May 15th, Emma tells us she found herself in a ‘creative rut’ after the release of her album. A lot of her team had to be replaced, as well as stressful situations in her personal life that left her almost completely unable to write music despite it usually being her coping mechanism in difficult times. This EP really explores her journey through these hard moments, and her finally feeling creatively free once again: ‘being able to open my ‘arms’ to positivity and creativity again.’ The last few years have been a challenge, with a lot of time spent on rebuilding things in Emma’s career and regaining control over many aspects that she had lost. While taking this time away from putting out new music, she has been writing and staying inspired by her partner who has always encouraged her to keep going, and that has clearly paid off with her new EP on the horizon.
The first single release from this new project was ‘Wolves’, which Emma says wasn’t the first song written from the EP but is the one that inspired her to keep fighting through the harder times, with her explaining: ‘I wanted people to see and hear my struggles before the rest of the EP is released.‘ With ‘Wolves’ already seeing success after being placed in popular Spotify and Apple music playlists as well as reaching the 2nd best selling pre-order on iTunes, Emma tells us she hopes the EP is met with the same love this single has already received.
Screenshot from the ‘Wolves’ Music Video.
While Emma has put out an album in the past, she tells us that ‘My Arms Are Open’ needed to be an EP at this point in time, as albums really consume her emotional headspace as well as being incredibly costly and time draining. She currently feels that an album isn’t on her future release radar, stating ‘I’m still trying to be kind to myself and not put too much pressure on myself to create a big body of work.’ It’s always been important that her songs are those that she has put her heart and soul into, and if she tried to put out another album, it may not have ever reached a point of feeling viable for her.
As Emma has been in the industry for 2012, it’s safe to say she’s had many evolutions as an artist. Her first EP ‘Distance’ felt right and true to her at the time, but over the years she’s gained so much experience with writing, self-producing, and seeing how the industry looks behind the scenes too. On top of all her technical knowledge, she has personally developed as a person and learned a lot about channeling her emotions into music. She tells us, ‘I feel a lot more vulnerable than I used to, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes, it just means you’re open to feeling more emotions; love, fear, pride, remorse – it’s only through growing as a person that I’ve grown as an artist.’
As well as being an incredible artist, Emma has been on YouTube for quite some time and lately has been putting out more music related content for her audience. In the past, she really restricted what she would put out, but these days feels it’s a good thing for her to put out any kind of content that feels true to her. Whether that be a comedy video, music commentary or anything else. YouTube has been both a blessing and a curse throughout the years, as while it has given Emma a large and appreciative audience, it has also created a stigma around her as a musician with many feeling that creators coming from untraditional routes such as YouTube, Vine, TikTok and Instagram are just trying to get in on the hype. It’s also been difficult for her to fit in within the industry, telling us that ‘some labels like to control the artist from the ground up, and when you carve your own path, they can’t have that.’
Although primarily Emma is a solo musician, she works with a large team of people who support her and contribute to her projects. Most notably, her partner Davey Bennet who has helped her write and further demos, as well as introduced her to producer Tom Gittins who really brings her tracks to life in ways she never previously envisioned. It’s clear his support has been a major factor in keeping her going, especially when things behind the scenes ‘made it feel like it was far too much grief to be worth it.’
You can pre-save Emma’s new EP here so you can hear it on the day of release, and keep up with her at the links below!
Instagram // Twitter // Facebook // Website // Spotify // Youtube
Photo by Billie Frances
