Bristol's own Emily Breeze today. I dug out Venue The Album #2, a freebie CD given away with local listings magazine Venue way back in 2009, which included Emily's song Monday's Right Hook. Venue is long gone, but Emily has released two albums since, Penny Arcade (2010) and Rituals (2019). The latter opens with the wonderful Call In Sick Today and a visit to Emily's YouTube page reveals a beautifully shot performance video of the song.
Another album highlight is the single Ego Death, presented here in a live version and as a rather fine remix by Barry Adamson.
Emily released a couple more singles in 2020, Hey Kidz and Confessions Of An Ageing Party Girl, again with great videos to accompany.
Comparisons have been drawn with, variously, Nancy Sinatra, Patti Smith and PJ Harvey, Johnny Cash, Lee Hazlewood and Scott Walker, but none of those really do justice to Emily, her incisive and reflective lyrics or the band themselves. I think that if you like Dry Cleaning and Wet Leg, you'll find a lot to love in Emily Breeze's music.
Emily's also a freelance lecturer with the BIMM Institute and the influence on her music is explored in a fascinating interview by a former student in 2020.
A post last month on Emily's Facebook page promises album #3 and hopefully more tour dates in 2022. I've not yet had the experience of seeing Emily Breeze live in concert but I'm hoping to address that in the near future.
You can buy Emily's music on Bandcamp, the usual digital outlets and possibly your friendly neighbourhood record shop too.
Really interesting, I hadn't heard of her before but your mention of Nancy and Lee particularly drew me in. A striking and interesting looking artist too, which is always compelling. I really like Ego Death, the Barry Adamson remix and Confessions of An Ageing Party Girl, so far... must take the time to check out more, so thank you for introducing her to me.
ReplyDeleteThanks, C. Monday's Right Hook, which is also the opener of Emily's debut album couldn't be more different to her current material, rockabilly with a nod to The Gun Club though still very good. One of those artists that I really wish I'd seen in those years where she and the band developed and evolved their sound in a live setting. I wish my music teacher had been a bit more like Emily Breeze, my life could have taken a very different path!
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