First Love (Emmy the Great album)

First Love
Studio album by Emmy the Great
Released 9 February 2009 (2009-02-09)
Genre Anti-folk
Length 43:02
Label Close Harbour Records
Producer Emma-Lee Moss, Euan Hinshelwood, Tom Rogerson, The Earlies
Emmy the Great chronology
First Love
(2009)		 Virtue
(2011)
Singles from First Love
  1. "We Almost Had A Baby"
    Released: 10 November 2008
  2. "First Love"
    Released: 23 February 2009
Alternate cover
Promo cover

First Love is the first studio album from the London singer-songwriter Emma-Lee Moss, better known by her stage name Emmy the Great. It was released on 9 February 2009 on the UK-based indie label Close Harbour Records.

Background

Moss explains that she never chose to write any of the album's songs any certain way, "they just came out". She does, however, admit that "...breaking up with my boyfriend when I did had a huge influence." She describes the album as "a record of the time that it was made, and the time I spent waiting for it to come out, and now that time is over. It's actually quite weird that other people are only just hearing it. Members of my family will bring up a song and I’ll be like, 'that is so 2008.'"[1]

The first single, "We Almost Had A Baby", was released on 10 November 2008. In January 2009, a promotional version of the album was leaked on a number of music forums. Moss then posted a blog on her MySpace page asking people not to download it, saying that the first run of promos had been of the wrong master, and were of a lower quality than the album that would be released officially.[2]

Music videos were released for "We Almost Had A Baby",[3] "First Love"[4] and "MIA".[5]

Critical response

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic link
Drowned in Sound link
MOJO[6]
NME link
Sunday Tribune
The Times link

The album met with generally positive reviews on release. British webzine Drowned in Sound praised it as "a triumph, with a maturity beyond her years, and with a humour no less enjoyable for being subtle",[7] while The Guardian described Moss' style as "ultra-wordy, but also articulate and interesting."[8] NME, however, was more equivocal, criticising her "constant stance of diary-entry victimhood" as becoming "more grating than engaging".[9] Moss' songwriting was widely praised, with webzine TwistedEar saying that her lyrics are "Emmy the Great's secret weapon, and save First Love from mediocrity."[10]

The album was ranked at No. 7 on the New York Times "Albums of the Year 2009" list.[11]

Track listing

No. Title Length
1. "Absentee"   3:57
2. "24"   3:01
3. "We Almost Had A Baby"   2:55
4. "The Easter Parade"   3:26
5. "Dylan"   3:32
6. "On Museum Island"   4:10
7. "War"   1:53
8. "First Love"   4:36
9. "MIA"   3:25
10. "The Easter Parade (Pt. 2)"   1:45
11. "Bad Things Coming, We Are Safe"   4:00
12. "Everything Reminds Me of You"   5:54
13. "City Song"   3:08
Total length:
 43:02

References

  1. ↑ Interview: Emmy the Great on stereokill.net
  2. ↑ "Emmy the Great blog". Myspace.
  3. ↑ "Emmy the Great – We Almost Had a Baby". YouTube.
  4. ↑ "Emmy the Great – First Love". YouTube.
  5. ↑ "Emmy the Great – MIA". YouTube.
  6. ↑ Sutcliffe, Phil (2009) "Emmy the Great First Love", MOJO, March 2009 issue
  7. ↑ "Review: Emmy the Great". Retrieved 18 February 2009.
  8. ↑ Sullivan, Caroline (6 February 2009). "Emmy The Great, First Love". London: Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
  9. ↑ "Emmy The Great – First Love". NME. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
  10. ↑ "Emmy the Great – First Love". Idiomag.com. 10 February 2009. Retrieved 19 February 2009.
  11. ↑ Caramanica, Jon (18 December 2009). "Sumptuous Hip-Hop, Nashville Punk". NYtimes.com. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
  12. ↑ "First Love: EMMY THE GREAT" (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
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