A new single from Emilia Quinn is always a cause for celebration as you can never be quite sure what the contents will sound like. She's been a compelling presence on the UK americana scene since her debut EP began to surface prior to her appearance at Buckle & Boots 2019. Her live appearances are somewhat magnetic and her recorded material has an extremely high quality threshold.
This latest project is full of intrigue, taking 4 weeks to go from recording to release out into the big wide world. Recorded at her home, we get two excellent new songs to be considered to be a Double A single as each song has its own special qualities. One other thing we should clear up immediately is the striking cover - before anyone jumps to the wrong conclusion it is linked to the first of the two new songs "This World" and not Emilia making any sort of announcement to the world!!
"This World" takes that striking image from the cover and ponders what sort of world a new born baby is emerging into. At any time it is a valid question to ask, but with a pandemic raging, global warming and a host of political issues across the world, these are the strangest of times - where "every day is a waking nightmare" as Emilia puts it. Emilia doesn't seek to force an opinion on us on how to improve particular issues but instead takes a more holistic view asking us to "Make time to share a little good karma and to care for one another". There's also a sense that bigger change can only come about if we all make smaller ones "We can only try to live a better life"
All this is played out over a solitary acoustic guitar with just the addition of some backing harmonies to fill out the overall sound. For the final few lines the guitar drops away leaving just Emilia's vocal to draw attention to the lyrics.
The second song sees something completely new from Emilia as she displays her keyboard skills for a beautiful piano ballad "MILA" which is an acronym for Missing Intensely from my Loving Arms. From the opening couplet it is clearly a song of separation
"A couple of miles can feel like thousands, a couple of months can feel like a lifetime since I saw you".
We already know that Emilia can fire out a fearsome rock vocal however here she has never sounded more tender as she delivers the lines that really spell out those feelings of the emptiness of missing someone
"I want to come back and tell you about my day but you're not home" or later when she addresses that feeling of how life has become where
"Every breath seems colder, every step seems harder". These lines are delivered intensely charged with emotion and it is without doubt a moving performance. As Emilia signs off with a sustained "My love" and a final flourish on the piano, all that is missing is a standing ovation from an audience to say "Well done" - this is an outstanding piece of work.