As a jack-of-all-trades, dearest’s honest songwriting and knack for producing shine in newest single, “Everything.”
Emma Rose Botti, a seasoned songwriter, is emerging as a multi-hyphenate artist under the project name “dearest,” allowing herself to explore her raw emotional vulnerability through her own outlet. The New York City-based singer is drawing in the likes of Adrianne Lenker, The Japanese House, Lizzy McAlpine, and Sabrina Song.
While initially emerging as a songwriter with other artists (Sabrina Song, Juliet Ivy) since graduating from NYU’s Clive Davis Institute, dearest’s crisp production style captures her extensive experience. With lyrics that dwell on overwhelming emotions in every respect, the singer contrasts her sentiments by cultivating a delicate melody. She combines her warm alto with airy vocal layering and harmonies. The track begins pairing her words at the forefront with finger-picked acoustic guitars before layering on high-hat percussion, major keys and, soon, horns. It is clear that dearest’s attention to detail uplifts her production quality.
Despite “Everything” achieving a cozy ambiance in sound, blending folk and pop production styles, dearest lays everything out in her lyrics, emphasizing, “oh, I know I feel too much.” In this song, the singer “tries so hard to make it feel okay,” listing off all of her senses. Her attention is in the details, not just in her writing and production, but in the way she experiences the world, from every promise, kiss, touch or emotion. While she experiences “everything,” this makes her sensitive to any sensation, making her vulnerable to heartache: “But when it hurts I tend to crack in two.”
dearest’s attention to detail, across both her personal life and her creative process, reflects the birth of “Everything.” While emulating the cohesion in its instrumentation or the literal take away from her lyrics, the single came about from the songwriter’s passion for the developmental process of music as an art form. Remarkably, the single was written, produced, and sung by dearest. Her admiration for the craft acts as a vessel for her emotional expression, communicating her vulnerability.
