Emma Pollock | ||
| Allmusic Biography : A founding member of dreamy Scotland alternative rock group the Delgados, singer/songwriter/guitarist Emma Pollock signed to 4AD Records in 2005 after the bands amicable dissolution. Pollock utilized the formidable talents of former Delgados drummer and husband Paul Savage, keyboardist Jamie Savage, and Aereogramme bass player Campbell McNeil for her solo debut, Watch the Fireworks, which was released in September 2007. Her sophomore effort, the textured and experimental The Law of Large Numbers, arrived in 2010, followed in 2016 by emotionally charged and lovingly crafted In Search of Harperfield, which arrived via Chemikal Underground. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 4 Title: Watch the Fireworks Released: 2007-09-11 Tracks: 11 Duration: 43:20 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 New Land (04:49) 2 Acid Test (03:51) 3 Paper and Glue (03:45) 4 Limbs (03:43) 5 Adrenaline (04:58) 6 If Silence Means That Much to You (03:46) 7 Fortune (03:29) 8 Youll Come Around (03:23) 9 This Ropes Getting Tighter (03:14) 10 Here Comes the Heartbreak (03:20) 11 The Optimist (04:57) |
| Watch the Fireworks : Allmusic album Review : Fans mourning the demise of the mercurial Scottish pop deconstructionists the Delgados can put away their tissues, as vocalist/guitarist Emma Pollock has crafted one the groups finest efforts to date, albeit as a solo artist. The 11 cuts that make up the gifted singers lovely and windswept debut Watch the Fireworks echo many of her former bands finest moments, a notion that has as much to do with Pollocks clear, crisp, and effortless voice as it does the fact that her husband and former Delgados drummer Paul Savage brings all of the economical, clock-like urgency to the kit that he did on key band tracks like "Light Before We Land," "Knowing When to Run" and "Girls of Valour." Pollocks gift for serpentine airs asserts itself in the very first minute of opener "New Land," a gorgeous waltz that gets more and more sinister with each loop of its long-limbed main melodic phrase. Pollock achieves a similar feat on the albums three mesmerizing ballads. Like fellow 4AD alums Lisa Germano and Kristin Hersh, Pollock knows how to conduct atmosphere, and between the heartbreaking "Limbs," the ethereal, Cocteau Twins-inspired "Fortune," and the mystical closer "Optimist," she lays down enough mist to challenge all of the heavyweights of mid-90s dream pop combined. Thats not to say that the record as a whole is a downer, as she, along with Savage, his multi-talented keyboard playing brother Jamie, and Aereogramme bassist Campbell McNeil have crafted enough sugary indie pop confections to launch a hundred late summer road trips (the expansive, piano-led "Adrenaline" alone, if played before noon on a workday, could result in a lunch break that easily blurs into a weekend). Watch the Fireworks toasts all the seasons, though the moors and highlands of its "creator"s native Scotland paint it with the long shadows of impending winters. Other acts have mined this mid-tempo landscape before, but few have had it this figured out beforehand. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 4 Title: The Law of Large Numbers Released: 2010-03-01 Tracks: 12 Duration: 41:26 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Hug the Piano (AND) (01:18) 2 Hug the Harbour (03:42) 3 I Could Be a Saint (03:10) 4 Red Orange Green (03:08) 5 Nine Lives (05:20) 6 House on the Hill (03:53) 7 Letters to Strangers (04:19) 8 The Loop (03:27) 9 Confessions (03:36) 10 The Child in Me (02:51) 11 Chemistry Will Find Me (05:25) 12 Hug the Piano (OR) (01:11) |
| The Law of Large Numbers : Allmusic album Review : Ex-Delgados vocalist Emma Pollocks excellent 2007 solo debut, Watch the Fireworks, helped curb the hunger pangs felt by many fans after the beloved Scottish indie rockers called it quits in 2004. Hardly a dressed-down Delgados record, it utilized the best elements from the band while upping the hook factor and introducing some much-needed sunlight into the mix. Pollock, who wields a wily pen and an agreeable croon that falls somewhere between Chrissie Hynde and Aimee Mann, crafted another winner with 2010s Law of Large Numbers. Like Fireworks, its a diary of serpentine melodies, metaphors, and styles thats seamed and stitched together by economical production and Pollocks easy delivery. It operates in a sparser, wearier landscape than its predecessor (which will please some hardcore Delgados fans), but through the smoky decay of pensive cuts like "Chemistry Will Find Me" and "The Loop," rise a small army of glorious pop nuggets ("Hug the Harbour," "Confessions") and lovely, austere, modern folk songs ("The Child in Me," "House on the Hill") that distance Pollock from her previous incarnation without sacrificing any of the gifts that brought her to the here and now. Law of Large Numbers wont sneak up and hit you over the head, but it will sneak up on you. Singer/songwriters are a dime a dozen and well-stocked, but in their numbers the great ones shine brighter. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 4 Title: Tour EP Released: 2012 Tracks: 6 Duration: 25:05 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Half Light (05:13) 2 The Night Is Heavy (04:56) 3 SG-666 (03:48) 4 Dark Skies (03:43) 5 Elliot (04:26) 6 Mo VeLa Bella Mia de La Muntagna (02:59) |
 | Album: 4 of 4 Title: In Search of Harperfield Released: 2016-01-29 Tracks: 11 Duration: 44:24 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Cannot Keep a Secret (04:24) 2 Don’t Make Me Wait (04:09) 3 Alabaster (04:32) 4 Clemency (02:39) 5 Intermission (04:47) 6 Parks and Recreation (03:12) 7 Vacant Stare (03:29) 8 In the Company of the Damned (03:34) 9 Dark Skies (03:29) 10 Monster in the Pack (04:27) 11 Old Ghosts (05:42) |
| In Search of Harperfield : Allmusic album Review : The third solo outing from the ex-Delgados vocalist, In Search of Harperfield is Emma Pollocks most revealing and adventurous set of songs to date, a lustrous and heartbreaking home movie of a record that makes aging, death, and melancholy feel positively vital. Pollocks post-Delgados output has kept mostly in line with the groups predilection for orchestral, cinematic post-rock, due in part to some pristine production and arranging work from husband and ex-Delgado Paul Savage, and the lovingly crafted In Search of Harperfield is no exception. Easily her finest work to date, the 11-track LP is as emotionally cohesive as it is narratively vague, with Pollocks rich and stately voice guiding the listener through a litany of hardships that touch on everything from illness and motherhood to the cruel slap of adolescence. Highlights, which include the dark, sumptuous opener "Cannot Keep a Secret," the equally grand yet far poppier "Dont Make Me Wait," the road- and radio-ready "Parks and Recreation," and the achingly beautiful "Dark Skies," the latter as good as anything the Delgados ever put to tape, feel lived in and loved, despite their undercurrents of despair. Pollocks voice, both vulnerable and commanding, has never sounded better, and her songwriting feels deeply personal yet untethered to the past, even as it name-checks the mile markers. Her quick turns of phrase and penchant for punctuating moments of self-doubt with colorful bits of impressionistic flair and left-field melodic rejoinders invoke names like Kate Bush, Nick Drake, and Sandy Denny, but the truth is, shes been perfecting her particular brand of moody, bucolic baroque pop for over two decades now, and with the marvelous In Search of Harperfield, that work has finally paid off. | ||