The deep contemplation of Em’s new album Phases is hypnotic. It shows how talented Em is not only as a songwriter but also as an audio engineer. Most noticeably you will find her guitar patterns mesmerising as they blend with synths and her rich vocal layers. It’s a warm and floral feeling listening to this album with this album being a projection of self-discovery, grief and emotional resilience. Em merges a striking mix of Indie, pop and folk sound and it’s rich with Em’s signature production style. It must be known the contributors of this album are the close-knit team of contributors, Manuela Johnston (Big Tasty), Josh Johnston, Luan Meaker, Mackensie Clayton, and Josh Strand.

We begin with title track Phases which paints the image of a melancholy Sunday morning contemplating your life while your coffee goes cold. Em’s guitar is the neon sign of sound that welcomes you into the album. The combination of folk strings and pop rhythm is powerful in its gentleness. She expresses about lying awake, looking out to the trees, and then saying something doesn't feel right. There could be multiple interpretations of what she means by phases, I see it as the different phases of emotions like how the phases of seasons change. This being the title song, it’s the first documentation of Em’s journey through loss and self-reflection.

The Plan is the second song with a compelling drum beat that drives this song. In this way, the drums created a delicate thoughtfulness with the strength of the main rhythm. One lyric stands out “Everything about me feels like it’s offline” which strikes the feeling that something feels strange and off. There are repeated lyrics as a style choice that works especially well. “when it’s the same it's my turn to change” Within the second half of the song there is a rotating wheel of a steady patterned song that interferes with the repetition lyrics. I love it when a folk style artist brings in the momentum of drums and Em knew exactly what she was doing. 

The lead single on the album is Reach Out and I find it to be the most concise and strongest instrumental. It’s hard not to focus on Em’s profound lyrics as she describes floating out of her mind and going to reach out for someone into the night. It bottles the universal theme of grief and yearning. She describes it as a lucid dream and the loops of guitar and drums do sound like a lucid dream. A hazy, cloud-like captured feeling. It’s like the production of loops is a heartbeat simply quiet and pulsating gently. Em shares “This song was born of my experience with loss, but as I wrote it, I realised it captured a feeling many people could relate to.”

Magnesium is the next song that uses metaphor as a means of showing that universal theme again. Magnesium is the vitamin for bodily strength and hearing the lyrics you can tell Em is expressing the need for strength to do simple, small tasks like writing a song. It's a perfumed statement of grief and how you can lose strength during a painful experience. There is a change in the song during the second half which essentially lays out grief being the cause of the need for strength. “All of my songs lead back to you”. Em drives hard into emotion and paints us her melting heartbreak of when someone is physically gone but they stay somehow in your body. In your mind and heart and then into song.

The second half of the album paints Em’s album with her guitar strums that hold the richness of her vocals. There is Slowly which is a short sparkle song that’s simply 1:35 long. Even though is a small song it holds a big representation of what Em is as an artist. It seems like a perfectly blue emotion of water that flows into the next song Single Girl Era. A face-to-face acknowledgment of her romantic life and surroundings, Em pairs the follow-up song from Slowly with a melancholy yet dancing tune. Then the final four songs Tender, Cloud City, Night Out and In Time are not to be missed as they further enhance the flourishment of the album as a whole. More specifically how its folk, acoustic imprint has delicate harmonies.

If you listen to Clairo, Girl in Red or Feye Webster you’ll enjoy this album. Phases feels like a mirror to yourself while following her skin deep that grows as you listen to it. Em has a powerful talent as a musician and audio engineer. The pure heartfulness and experimentation of Em can only do justice by doing more work like Phases.

• 1
  Head Like A Hole
• 2
  Horror Story
• 3
  Fraser Ross
• 4
  Fur Patrol
• 5
  Michelle Rounds
• 6
  L.A.B.
• 7
  The Boondocks
• 8
  Late to Chelsea
• 9
  Springloader
• 10
  Baconfoot

• 
  Nadia Reid @ Loons, Lyttelton - 16/11/2024
• 
  Pull Down The Sun @ Franks Bar, Whanganui - 15/11/2024
• 
  Elidi @ Franks Bar, Whanganui - 15/11/2024
• 
  Infinity Ritual @ Franks Bar, Whanganui - 15/11/2024

• 1
  APT.
  ROSÉ And Bruno Mars
• 2
  DIE WITH A SMILE
  Lady Gaga And Bruno Mars
• 3
  BIRDS OF A FEATHER
  Billie Eilish
• 4
  TASTE
  Sabrina Carpenter
• 5
  I LOVE YOU, I'M SORRY
  Gracie Abrams
• 6
  ESPRESSO
  Sabrina Carpenter
• 7
  SAILOR SONG
  Gigi Perez
• 8
  LOSE CONTROL
  Teddy Swims
• 9
  A BAR SONG (TIPSY)
  Shaboozey
• 10
  GOOD LUCK, BABE!
  Chappell Roan

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