by Philip Moss
Just over 18 months ago, Emily Sprague upped sticks and moved from her upstate New York home to the West Coast. Her mother had just passed and a serious, long term relationship had concluded. The result – which was written and recorded following the move, and after six months of serious depression – is Emily Alone: twelve songs that are a brutally deep examination of self from a songwriter absolutely at the top of her game.
Opener, As Alone, is immediately reflective and touches upon existential uncertainty. ‘Nothing brings clarity to what makes me me, except knowing that some kind of sadness is free… Emily just know you’re not as alone as you feel in the dark.’ Every syllable here is carefully articulated into its gentle, pretty melody, as the song somehow grows in intensity without the arrangement ever shifting beyond guitar and voice.
And this is in fact the case throughout. When leaving home, Sprague also left behind her backing band. Yes, the title is literal: Emily is alone, and plays every note your hear on the album. But, in doing so, nothing is lost. These may indeed be ‘home recordings’, but such is the finality of Sprague’s delivery that the record can not be confused for spruced up demos. Somehow the fluttering of birds on Celebration makes the first of two spoken word pieces feel embellished. While Moon Begins finds Sprague’s voice further forward than ever before – ironically displaying a quiet confidence that apparently is not felt within.
Sprague has discussed how surfing has become a huge part of her lifestyle since moving to California, and the sea weaves in and out of her poeticism on a number of tracks. However, it is doubt that creeps in like the tide on Ocean Arms – ‘Why do I feel so happy when I stare at the ocean? Then devastated when I stare at the ocean?’ Again, as is so often the case throughout the LP, there’s no chorus as such, but the intimacy of these special songs means they swell into your consciousness in their own, charming way.
Emily Alone is an addictive, quietly seductive masterpiece. Over time, it may just show itself to be the best record you experience this year.
Secret Meeting score: 92
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