She Likes to Fly - Emma McDermott (Album Review)
Art is a journey, one that navigates many highs and lows while the artist braves each step towards the spotlight. Ample time must be set aside for musicians to develop their craft while also allotting hours every week to the business end, learning as much as they can from any person or resource to realize their vision. For artists like the Nashville-based Emma McDermott, the journey started with singing and performing at a very young age, supported by her two music-teaching parents and a community of artists in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Prior to this debut album, she had several years of making music with long-time multi-Emmy winning collaborator Brian Brill on several singles and EPs. Just when the momentum was building, the pandemic halted that progress and had her fighting for her life battling a virus-related episode of myocarditis. Years of developing as a songwriter, her training while assembling some lifelong collaborators at Columbia College, along with the clear vision to share songs “straight from the heart” have led to She Likes to Fly, an album that soars on the renewed energy of an artist finally able to take flight.
Emma McDermott has been described as a “one-woman-techno-Carter family” by folks like Nicholas Tremulis (the “Music Mayor of Chicago”), and she wears her influences on her sleeve. She draws from the “hooks and lyricism of Maroon 5, the mystical and carefully crafted sound of Coldplay, and the boldness of Lady Gaga’s music,” resulting in an eclectic blend of folk, pop, jazz, and R&B throughout the record. Things kick off with the title track “She Likes to Fly,” an upbeat dance tune with an infectious hook decorated with interwoven synth sounds. Her voice alternates between strong, unaffected vocals and colorfully decorated singing layers (i.e. vocoder, sampled pitches). “Mirrors” lays back with a more soulful, expressive number centered around harmonies (horns, vocals), a bouncy drum beat paired with snaps and trap cymbals, and dreamy textures. “If You Need To” picks things back up with a club-ready EDM tune that ebbs and flows with the dance floor, a tune that was originally recorded by a group she was a member of in Chicago called Sleep for Dinner. The album then rolls right into her recently released single from this record, “Ease.” Her folk roots are nestled underneath a blanket of colorful, percussive and synth-laden sounds, telling the story of leaving her hometown and searching for a sign that things will be alright.
“Lips Turn Blue” features Emma’s longtime collaborator, Asher Witkin, a kindred spirit in his artistic motivations and songwriting style. The pairing of their voices blend so wonderfully among the pulsing keyboards and half-time trap beat. “All I Want” starts as an intimate piano ballad and opens up into a retrowave bop, driving with acoustic guitar and programmed beats alike. “Waltz” takes a similar approach with the lilting piano intro, but deviates from the previous track by incorporating more soothing textures and intimate arranging details (plucked strings, warm synth undertones, faintly pulsing arpeggiators). It is a slower build that gives listeners a beautifully cinematic world to enjoy and begs for a dynamic staging filled with moody lighting pouring through hazy fog and visual storytelling gliding across a series of video walls. Sparkling and airy keys float into “Unsettled,” a lively synthpop romp through a love that changes everything around her. Contrary to this song, “City of Angels” tells of how she “found peace the moment you left [me],” stripping away the layers to lay bare the lyrics and the rich layering of vocals overtop a bed of synthesizer while featuring her longtime friend David Magumba on guest vocals. Capping off the album is “Dark Moon,” one final dance anthem that evokes a scene of Emma crying out in the night after such a roller coaster of emotions throughout this journey, complete with a powerful build with crashing percussion and the fullness of an orchestra complimenting her expressive voice.
She Likes to Fly feels like a burst of air rising everybody up to a dreamlike soundscape dotted with vibrant synths, crafted and catchy choruses, and a revitalized energy that can only come from an artist’s lived experiences through several difficult years. The album fits perfectly in a summer playlist, offering sing-along car rides and soulful cries to the night sky surrounded by your hopes and dreams. It showcases Emma McDermott as a talented artist confidently striding closer to the spotlight, pairing her desire for transparent songwriting with a cast of stellar collaborators amplifying her presence.
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Social Media:
Instagram: @vocalcake
Facebook: @vocalcake
Website: emmamcdermottmusic.com
Spotify: Emma Mcdermott
TikTok: vocalcake
Album Credits:
Emma McDermott - Vocals, Songwriting, Synths
Asher Witkins - Vocals/Co-writing on “Lips Turned Blue,” co-writing on “If You Need To”
David Magumba - Vocals on “City of Angels”
Brian Brill -Producer
Geoff Michael - mixing (Big Sky Recording)
Hank McMillin - remix of “If You Need To”.
