PREMIERE: Georgia van Etten's new single 'Emma Lee': "It’s a message for people to be more open with themselves and others."
Georgia van Etten releases her debut album Deep Black Water this Friday, 26 February and today Women In Pop premieres the third single to be released from the album ‘Emma Lee’, also out on Friday.
Following the jazz-soul ‘I’d Like To Be’ and the brooding ‘Deep Black Water’, ‘Emma Lee’ showcases van Etten’s versatility and is a gorgeous, mellow country infused track with 1970s folk pop vibes. Incredibly warm and all encompassing, it is the kind of music that wraps around you and sends you off on a cloud of bliss.
“I’ve never written a song so fast as ‘Emma Lee’”, van Etten says. “It sounds pretentious when people say a song just ‘poured out’ of them- but it did just that, it poured out one morning. I almost awoke singing the chorus! It’s the only song on the record not directly about me, so perhaps it helped being somewhat removed from the subject matter, in that it allowed me to write more intuitively.”
The track has actually formed part of van Etten’s bank of music for several years and at one point was part of her live shows. Inspiration from the Simon & Garfunkel song ‘Cecilia’ contributed to the song’s final form in the studio, shaped by van Etten with Edwin Ireland, with mandolin, banjo, acoustic guitar, violin and organ added to the track to expand its sonic landscape.
“The song is inspired by the ex-girlfriend of a close friend, but also hints to other friends and their relationships,” she says of the story behind the song’s lyrics. “It is written from the perspective of my friend- a plea for the woman he is with to commit to dealing with her problems and mental health with him and not through him: ‘You need to know yourself / You can’t do that through me’. The story ‘Emma Lee’ tells is unfortunately far too common and it exposes people who seek relationships as a means of validation; not truly wanting their partner for who they are but instead for what they can rectify. It’s not only a tale of events, but a message for people to be more open with themselves and others and an invitation for us all to reflect on our behaviour: ‘The things you hate about yourself, are the things you’ll hate in someone else.’'“
van Etten has been releasing music since 2017, but with the release of her debut album it feels she is creating some of the most exciting music of her career to date. ‘Emma Lee’ is out on February 26, but for now enjoy the track exclusively here on Women In Pop.
Deep Black Water is out on Friday 26th February. You can pre-order and pre-save here.
To keep up with all things Georgia van Etten, you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
