Emma Young is a versatile and talented singer-songwriter, actress, model and producer based in Westport, Massachusetts. I first learned about her in April when I wrote about the song “Reanimate” by brett.grant.5 that she was featured on. Emma and Brett met as students at Columbia College Chicago, and played together in the band Sleep For Dinner, who released their self-titled EP in 2019. Over the past few years, she’s also released several singles as a solo artist, along with her debut EP Rise, which dropped a year ago in June 2020. On June 25th, Emma released a dark and provocative new video for one of the tracks on the EP “All You’ll Ever Need“.

The song and video explore the relationship between an artist and her fans. Emma explains: “People get a narrow, highly edited view of an artist. The artist’s job is to convince their audience they desperately need them. The next release is ‘always the best music to ever have been written’ and the next image is ‘always a flawless yet candid’ portrait of what the artist is selling. As I describe in my lyrics ‘This is how it works, parts of life are all you’ll ever see’. The artist singing the song knows their role is to tempt new listeners and get them addicted to their sound. So I play a siren of sorts, luring my follower (played by Wes Kader) through screens and song to the point of obsession. At the same time, I am watching myself through that dusty tv set, always judging the persona I have created, yet detached from her, as if all those photos and videos are just an ideal that I will never truly reach. I sit clawing at the tv set, lonely, viewing the alternate reality I created. I play both the artist and a fan because the artist must both create and be an observer of themselves to calculate the best plan of attack. When I see the fan start to follow me I am satisfied with the result. It’s a dark and multi angled view of music. I am also into horror movies and wanted to play off of some classic scenes!“

Musically, “All You Ever Need” is darkly beautiful and mesmerizing too. Emma has done a masterful job creating a moody, yet sensual soundscape to perfectly express the double-edged aspects of artistry and celebrity. The song opens with discordant sounds and a rather ominous, droning synth lasting around 30 seconds, then transitions to an enchanting dance beat, accompanied by spooky ethereal synths and hauntingly beautiful piano chords. Her breathy vocals are captivating, with an almost ghostly feel as she sings to an imaginary fan who’s quickly becoming obsessed with her. The result is an outstanding song that brilliantly evokes her siren persona.

Here I am again, waiting for you in the dark
Here I am again, I know exactly what you want from me, what you want from me
See you through the lens, staring at me through the cracks
See you through the lens, you are waiting for a chance to see, you are waiting for a chance to see me

You don't blame me for, all the things that I've done
I left you wanting more, you left me with a new history, you left me with a new history
This is how it works, nights with you out on the streets
This is how it works, parts of life are all you'll ever see, they're all you'll ever need

Whoa whoa whoa
Oh I'm all you'll ever need
Whoa whoa whoa
Oh I'm all you'll ever need
I'm all you'll ever need
All you'll ever need
I'm All

The video was beautifully filmed by Bob Klein, who co-produced it with Andrew Bernard.

Follow Emma:  Facebook / Instagram

Stream her music: Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube