Emily Breeze

Bristol based pop-noir artist Emily Breeze returns with new album ‘Rapture’ on February 10th 2023 via Suar Shack Records. Written and recorded in her 40th year on planet Earth, the songs are a poignant and humorous take on how it feels to grow old disgracefully in an increasingly weird world. She describes the album as a ‘collection of coming-of (middle) age stories which celebrate flamboyant failure, excess and acceptance.’ 

Reflecting on the inspiration behind the album, Emily states, “I was receiving advice from music industry types to try and hide my age as if it was a dirty secret like an STD or a disgraced royal, so I decided to do the exact opposite”. 

This may have been a wise decision as single ‘Confessions Of An Ageing Party Girl’ received airplay from Lauren Laverne, Don Letts and Tom Robinson (BBC Radio 6) who commented “The UK’s 21st century answer to Patti Smith”. 

Second single ‘Ordinary Life’ spent four weeks on BBC Radio 6’s playlist seeing multiple plays from Amy Lame, Chris Hawkins, Steve Lamaq and Craig Charles who described the song as “an anthem” and invited Emily to do an interview as a special guest on the show. Emily has also found a fan in A-list actor Robert Carlyle who has shared both singles and commented “Emily Breeze IS talent...Love her”.

Cosmology is also a consistent theme which forms a backdrop to the everyday experiences (a day at work, a night in the pub) which take place as the universe unfurls into the great enveloping infinite dark. Many of the songs use cut up excerpts from Science articles and quotes from cosmologists such as Carl Sagan which are spliced with Emily’s absurdist imagery “we will high five the aliens, we will receive a standing ovation from the angels.” 

The album’s centrepiece ‘Part of Me’ is a five-minute sprawling epic which takes on the alternative fates of the towering figures of the 21st century “Elvis moved to the suburbs for a witness protection scheme” and “Princess Diana went undercover; she works at Anne Summers she wears a disguise”.

These themes, images and ideas are beautifully illustrated through the talents of producer Stew Jackson (Massive Attack) and all-star band Rob Norbury (lead guitar), Andy Sutor (drums), Helen Stanley (keys/synth) and George Caveney (bass) who have collaborated with Emily to craft a cinematic pop noir fantasy which draws influence from Vintage Exotica, Patti Smith, Pulp and Leonard Cohen.

Emily released her first solo album ‘The Penny Arcade’ in 2010 garnering critical acclaim including album of the year in Americana U.K and support from BBC Radio 6 which resulted in Emily being described as “The love child of P.J Harvey and Johnny Cash” in The Sunday Times, followed by performances at Glastonbury Festival, a headline slot at Bristol Festival and UK and European tour dates. Emily and long-term collaborator Rob Norbury then went on to form psychedelic post-punk band Candy Darling and released two double A-side seven-inch singles ‘Money’ and ‘Going Straight’ which were supported by BBC Intro, The NME and Louder Than War. 2019 saw the release of Emily’s second solo album ‘Rituals’ produced by Stew Jackson (Massive Attack) which also received positive reviews in national press (Mojo, Irish Times) and airplay from BBC Intro, XFM and BBC Radio 6.

“The UK’s 21st century answer to Patti Smith performing deeply personal lyrics over grooving post punk rock n roll.” - Tom Robinson, BBC 6 Music 

“Torch song tragedy, swathed in black humour” - Mojo Magazine  

“A Trent Reznor/Lou Reed hybrid” - NME 

“As vital a statement on what it is to be alive” - Louder Than War 

“The love child of P.J Harvey and Johnny Cash” - The Sunday Times

”The cynical pop of Blackbox Recorder, the seedy kitchen sink romance of Pulp, The glamorous artful tragedy of Nick Cave” - God Is In The TV

“Immaculately twisted post punk glamor, hot blooded, razor tongued and hilariously sharp” - Guitarist Magazine