EMMMA’s 2024 debut EP
‘Secondary Character’ provoked positive comparisons to the likes of
Chappell Roan,
Holly Humberstone and
Phoebe Bridgers, leading her to start this year with an inclusion in the
Daily Star’s Tips For 2025 and to be invited on tour with
JC Stewart this month across the UK. Now
EMMMA shows how she has honed her talents in such a short time as she releases the new single
‘Cut The Breaks’.
Listen HERE.Opening with a swell of synths and EMMMA’s hushed, mood-setting lyrical introduction, ‘Cut The Breaks’ soon breaks from its chains and bursts into a runaway momentum. Alt-pop creativity and peppy beats fuel that rush as EMMMA’s silky, chic falsetto expresses the raw emotion of moving on from a relationship… and then being desperately torn as to whether that decision was for the best. Those tumultuous emotions are encapsulated in the coupleless couplet of its hook: “We flipped a switch and it’s hard to believe / ‘Cause now you’re a stranger with all of my secrets.”
EMMMA says, “This song is about my breakup with my long-term partner in December and how sometimes I’m going about my life and then these feelings of regret and missing and worry hit me like a ton of bricks, like did I make the right choice leaving this person I’ve loved for such a long time, like someone cut the brakes. Also how odd it is that someone can go from your best friend to a total stranger in one day with one choice like losing a limb.”
EMMMA wrote ‘Cut The Breaks’ with its producer Paul Whalley (Grace Davies, Nina Nesbitt) with co-production from Ben Lythe (Aine Dean, Grace Davies). The finishing touches were provided with mixing from Lee Smith (Holly Humberstone, Arlo Parks) and mastering from Manon Grandjean (RAYE, Bastille).
The break-up that EMMMA references has inspired a flood of new song ideas, more of which will emerge soon. The result, however, is that the artist who EMMMA is at this moment is already a leap away from the person who released ‘Secondary Character’ just last November.
Raised in the small coastal town of Westport, Connecticut, EMMMA was always drawn to creative pursuits. She picked up the violin when she was just two years old, later learning the piano and performing in local music theatre. The family home was filled with the songs of Joni Mitchell, Carole King and James Taylor – artists who would nurture EMMMA’s love of storytelling. She has honed her skills as a member of Alex Sasha Sloan’s live band before ‘Secondary Character’ saw her step into the limelight on her own terms.
The full list of live dates:
MAY 2025
14th Heartbreakers – Southampton
16th Cavern – Exeter
18th Dead Wax – Birmingham
19th The Louisiana – Bristol
20th The Castle Hotel – Manchester
22nd Cluny 2 – Newcastle
24th Kazimier Stockroom – Liverpool
25th The Garage Attic Bar – Glasgow
