(April 20, 2021 – Los Angeles, CA) In an era starved for young Pop artists with something significant to share, singer/songwriter Em delivers with her music and her message in her latest album, Dear Life. As hooky, engaging and comforting as the radio vibes of today yet with a big beating heart at its core, Em’s 10-track Dear Life (8 songs plus an intro and outro – available April 23rd) is a ginger breeze of mood, truth and soulful Pop. “This album represents a big chapter in my life in terms of growth and empowerment. Through that struggle, each song represents spiritual lessons in personal elevation and social unification.
The lead single of Dear Life is the dynamic “Say What You Mean” which was promoted with a sensually and supernaturally mesmerizing video helmed by Parris Mayhew. Em is dressed in a provocative gown, her raven hair streaked in white, deep red lipstick setting off bewitching green eyes and mystical elements such as ghostly clones, tarot cards and raindrops that turn to tears.
“That song is a universal message and represents the ethereal, emotional side of my writing,” Em states. “I’m a huge romantic and 100% ‘in’ when I’m in a relationship. ‘Say What You Mean’ is about wanting someone to love me with every fiber of their being…to be as sure of our love as I am.”
The title track “Dear Life” speaks to the universality of trusting in a higher power. “It was inspired by a near-death experience,” Em confesses. “Four souls in a car all at the same time needing and wanting the same thing. The revelation was that even people who claim they don’t believe in anything, when they’re placed within a life-or-death situation like that, they do hold on to faith…whether they want to call it that or not. All the things that divide us on the physical plane mean nothing when a circumstance completely levels the playing field. I made ‘Dear Life’ the title of the album because we’re all holding on for dear life during this time of pandemic. But the theme also addresses our lives like a letter: Dear Life.”
Em collaborated on the entire Dear Life project – which she describes as a meditation on coming of age – with music producer Chris Young.
Em’s previous EP, Pathway to Aetheria, was also produced in Manhattan by Chris Young, only at that time she was pursuing a musical direction she describes as “indie-world.” Her capriciousness in the past was the twin result of her being so openly influenced by artists of varying genres and the old familiar scenario of her producers steering her toward styles that were already working for other young female singers.
Em has absorbed the works of artists ranging from progressive females through the ages such as Carly Simon, Stevie Nicks, Alanis Morissette and P!nk to introspective male writer/performers such as Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Don Henley and Michael Jackson.
The connection with producer Chris Young resulted in several songs leading to a breakthrough composition entitled “Grace.” This inspired a sojourn and sabbatical to Woodstock in upstate New York where Em’s songs began to take on a more mature sound and sense of purpose, recalling the voices of strong women from before Em’s time in the `50s, `60s and `70s. Em also made key performances at World Café Live’s “Love Fest” in the “Philly Rising” series (2017-18) and was elected twice to perform at Durango Songwriter’s Expo. In February of 2020, Em was set to debut on multiple stages in Manhattan, and just as she was making her start, the pandemic set in. The rest of the shows were cancelled, but like many of the artists out there, Em has been constantly creating and hopeful to return to a live stage sooner than later.
In the midst of it all, Em has also been working on new music with a collaborator from Scotland by the name of Gregor Stobie, and with that, a new single with former Motown songwriter/producer Michael B. Sutton (Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson). Together, they penned a song called, “Sleepwalking.” “That song is a plea to stop seeing and treating each other as an inferior race or culture,” Em explains.
“We are all souls. We must remember our faith and history that happened before us to provide understanding. In that evolution, we can rest in a reality that unites us, not to separate us.”
Right now, it’s all about Dear Life, an aural musical out-of-body experience that truly feels cinematic in scope. “I’m really feeling that analogy,” Em co-signs.
“Dear Life is an album-oriented project. I love the concept of putting cinema and music together. Interwoven, you find yourself inside the song.”
