1. 22 August 19, 2011 DAILY POST
01492 574342 music@dailypost.co.uk
with IAN LLOYD HUGHES
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EEmmmmyy
tthhee
GGrreeaatt
GGiirrll
GGuuiiddee
From London riots to Wrexham gig
A
THURSDAY afternoon unlike
many others finds Emma-Lee
Moss – otherwise Emmy the
Great – understandably weary.
A succession of near-sleepless nights in
a riot-struck London has resulted in her
slumbering through two alarms and two
interviews.
“It’s been quite surreal,” she explains.
“We didn’t see too much but you could
constantly hear sirens going past.
“The three pubs down my road were
raided. Everyone inside got mugged.”
Away from interviews, Moss’ time has
been dedicated to the mass clear-up. It is
not particularly surprising. When not
touring or recording for herself, Emmy
the Great can reel off an impressive list
of collaborations and side projects.
Among them being names such as Fatboy
Slim and Lightspeed Champion.
“Everywhere there are people walking
around with brooms. It’s kind of a
protest.
“I was the kind of girl that went to Girl
Guides and did bake sales,” she adds.
“Now, you don’t spend every day, nine to
five, writing when you have time off.
And I don’t like to sit and do nothing.
When I do, I get edgy.
“I feel that as an artist I have a really
lucky life and it’s up to me not to waste it
by sitting about and doing nothing.
“Even now when I think about writing
songs I feel ‘that’s not real’. I still find it
quite strange... Although, when I started I
said I won’t complain all the time.
Spending entire days, like this, talking
about yourself – it’s inconsequential.
“Still, there is a huge joy in spending a
day arguing about how a guitar part
should go, though.”
Before the conversation staggers too
far into existentialism it turns to her new
album, Virtue. It was recorded with the
help of Pledgemusic. A platform which
focuses on the funding bands directly via
the fans. It continues a theme of
community throughout Moss’ persona.
She says it helped during a time her
personal life had, in her own words,
“gone mental”. Her fiancé converted to
Christianity and their relationship came
to an end. As a result, Virtue became a
much more personal and vitriolic album
than had first been intended.
“I needed a lot of people around me at
the time,” Moss continues.
“Fans can buy the record before it is
made, in a way. They then get sent a copy
before it gets released along with other
homemade things.
“Breaking down boundaries like that
between the band and the audience was
really cool. Affirming, yes.”
It also marked a continued push away
from established record companies.
“With the first record I was really
adamant I didn’t want to follow anything
I didn’t feel was right. A lot of friends
had signed for a major and took a
shortcut to success. Which is really cool
for them, but not for me.
“I didn’t think I should change my
sound on the whim of a record label guy.
I wanted to develop it in my own time.”
The interview ends. With no time to
spare, Moss is back to cleaning the
streets.
● Emmy the Great plays Wrexham
Central Station on October 6.
Seetickets.com
Emmy the Great
plays Wrexham
Central in October
Far from
Welsh
Kings of
Leon
IT’S highly unlikely that you
remember a little band called
The Glitterati, presumably
because they were a little less
than underwhelming, but I
can’t help but feel I’ve found
the new and improved
version right here in The
Roseville Band.
They were coined the
Welsh Kings of Leon by the
NME and that put them in
danger of being discarded as
just another standard indie
band of the moment.
You could not accuse
Wrexham’s The
Roseville Band of
simply falling where
they may into a category.
Shake the Walls has a lot to
offer in terms of melody and
variety.
I challenge your spirit not
to be lifted by the delightful
use of a harmonica and the
boys undeniably know all the
right places to throw in a
catchy guitar riff.
Sadly, there are moments
where the impeccable
instrumental value of their
songs could benefit from a
stronger vocal presence.
Sister Silvia gives the album
a delightfully pop start with a
completely contrasting
ending with the rock ’n’ roll
country stylings of Hope That
You Find.
Shake The Walls is a very
polished, albeit slightly
flawed, offering. It may not
make your top 10 of the year
but I would still say it’s worth
a listen if you can put away
any Kings of Leon
preconceptions.
More sounds from the depths of the crypt
soundcloud.com/necronath
NECRONATH lusts for the
darkness of life. Cold, calculated
and twisted, he wants to assault
your mind with sickening
thoughts.
It turns out that sickening
thought is some gory Autobahn
pile-up between Kraftwerk and
Rammstein. On their way to one
of Andrew WK’s parties.
The marvellously titled Rock
the Party, Illuminati is
wonderfully bizarre stuff. The
construction is so unsubtle it is
almost ham-fisted. That is,
though, a ham-fist straight to the
centre of your brain.
I’m Going Slightly Mad is a
Queen cover and is as camp as it
is ever so slightly mental. Baffling
in the best sense of the word.
It could be a deliberate effort
to keep you confused but
Chernobyl Fallout sounds like Joy
Division turned all the way up to
Alice Cooper.
The solo artist’s industrial
metal is unashamedly fun
throughout. Like Gary Newman,
consumed totally by the dark
side. Thought Police is practically
trance music.
An excellent statement from
the artist reads: “Despite having a
clearly unique sound and style,
NecroNath is currently searching
for band members to bring his
music to live audiences. Potential
band members must be prepared
to perform well and with style,
incorporating live theatrics and
video in their delivery.”
There isn’t a lot more you
could ask for. He adds: “Currently
working on new tracks,
NecroNath remains in his tomb
before unleashing his monster to
the world. See more.”
NecroNath could be genuinely
unhinged. He could just as likely
be some evil genius.
Unhinged... NecroNath
AS THE Hogwarts Express
heads off to the breaker’s
yard, some of its previous
passengers are on the
lookout for new careers.
One of those is that
sinister little snitch, Draco
Malfoy. Or Tom Felton if you
prefer his real name. Seems
he’s been courting McFly’s
Tom Fletcher to work with
him on material for his debut
album.
Let’s hope Tom (McFly)
gets a listen to Tom’s (Malfoy)
songwriting abilities before
he says yes. Why? Well, his
debut single Hawaii has just
hit YouTube and all we can
say is we wonder if he’s
thought of a career in
whistling?
Girl power maintains its
grip on the UK album charts
this week, though the boys
are fighting back.
The only boys present are
Jay Z and Kanye West, who
go straight in at number 3
with Watch the Throne, and
Bruno Mars, who drops to
number 8.
Adele has come out and
said she likes a man who can
make her laugh. So there’s
hope for Woody yet. Maybe
if he brushed up on his
comedy routine. And was
actually funny...
Though it’s not out until
late September, the web’s on
fire with people rushing to
listen to the new One
Direction
single which
was posted to
their website
last week. Not
sure you need
us to tell you,
but these
boys are
going to be
massive. It’s brilliant, a dead
cert number one.
A couple of big guns have
new singles out next week.
Ahead of his gig at Venue
Cymru in Llandudno on
November 15, the wonderful
Will Young, who came in to
Real Radio a few weeks ago, is
the first and it’s called
Jealousy. The second is the
delicious Pixie Lott with All
About Tonight. A great techno
pop tune. We predict these
will both be monster hits.
And finally, I can’t tell you
our joy at hearing that Mike
Myers will bring the
international man of mystery
Austin Powers back for a
fourth movie. Austin Powers
is like a night out with
Jagger; same old joke,
different scenery! Yeah, baby!
Delicious...
Pixie Lott
By SOFIA FARELLI