It hard to believe that
anyone who follows the UK country scene is unaware that Emilia Quinn is
releasing her new EP this week – an almost unprecedented promotional campaign started
back in July and has featured guest comments on the tracks, photo shoots and
lots of social media posts.
Billed as “The most personal
EP to date”, Medicate is Emilia’s 3rd EP release. Her first – “Wrote Off” - followed her
stunning debut at Buckle and Boots CMF in
2019 and showcased Emilia’s vocals, her
second – “Firecracker” - seemed to show her gritty, raw true self. Sam Coe loved it, and described the
music as “new outlaw country” and commented on the gruffness of Emilia’s voice
and the traditional elements to her sound.
So how does EP 3 measure
up? Has Emilia found her sound? Well, yes – and no.
Yes, in that her voice is
still fantastic, and the traditional country sound is certainly there, especially
with the fabulous pedal steel provided by Steven Hicken Jr.
No, because she has changed
the style again, away from the gritty delivery of Firecracker.
With the new EP, Emilia has
gone deep inside herself, writing about the pains and struggles of coping in
the pandemic hit world of the past eighteen months, with reference to vices and
coping strategies, leading to the EP title Medicate and the various track names
– Worse than Whisky, High, Pretty Pink Pills and Head Rush, backed up by the
imagery that has accompanied the press for this release. Covid-19 has provided a rich seam for
songwriters.
The first track Worse
Than Whiskey is opened with a slow drum beat, and the tempo continues
throughout the song. The drum is almost jarring
although the pedal steel cuts through to give the song a Country
authenticity. The vocal is also slow,
almost despairing. The vice here is a relationship, with a nod to alcohol dependency. High is almost light by comparison,
acoustic guitar setting the tone, with a much lighter vocal. The sound and the style have shades of Kacey
Musgraves, the lyrics are a little Brandy Clark – in fact you can almost work
your way through the current roster of contemporary female singer songwriters
while listening to this track. Pretty
Pink Pills is huskier, with the vocal very much leading over a softer instrumentation
while Head Rush possibly owes a little to Girl Crush.
Overall, this project feels
a little like Kacey Musgraves’ 2018 album Golden Hour. A change of style, an introspective album and
not quite in the confines of previous releases or the genre.
Medicate isn’t a release
that will be belted out to rock a festival stage as Firecracker was, but it is
an EP that demonstrates Emilia’s versatility and willingness to try different
styles and write from the heart.
Open and honest, we’ll leave
the final words to Emilia
Medicate, the
new EP from Emilia Quinn is available to stream and download from Friday 8 October
Find
and follow Emilia on Facebook, Instagram, her website and on Spotify
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