"Monsters" by Emma McGann
Review
For those who read my interview with Roxanne de Bastion ahead of her gig at the Tin on June 7th, you'll have seen that I asked her for tips on artists she admired for us to look out for: or more accurately I suppose, listen out for.
To my surprise & pleasure, she named two local artists: Bar Pandora whom we've covered several times recently & who'll be supporting Roxanne & Emma McGann whom regrettably we've not had the chance to write about lately.
Thankfully I can repair that painful omission straight away as Emma has a brand new single "Monsters" out right now.
You can tell straight away why Roxanne rates her & innovative talent. Already known for her ability to write catchy pop songs, Emma has been experimenting with sounds & technology & taken her craft to completely new levels.
"Monsters" is an excellent track: written with wit as well as skills (that always appeals to me), but what especially delights me are the surprises you get as the song progresses: an element sadly lacking from the current mainstream where generally once a song starts, you can figure out what you are going to get for the remainder.
Clearly Emma started with her essential pop instincts, explored new tools & decided to put them together & have some fun (the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tf5QoQElwg is a lot of fun too).
Not that the song is flimsy or lacking in depth as it addresses the darker places of our psychology, though in such a positive way as to not so much allow us to wallow in our fears but to see ways to elude them.
I'm glad that serendipity rather drew me to this review: it's a cracking song & so superior to so much which anguishes me on the mainstream media (they are my "monsters in some ways) that natural justice would demand that it's a proper hit. We can only hope so.
