Emma Grace's feisty formidable empowerment of "Take It All Back"

"empowerment anthem"

Chicago based Emma Grace is a self proclaimed "feisty queer musician and ukulele player" and I am a self proclaimed "hater of ukulele indie pop"... no, now before you send me hate mail, that was an over generalization. I kid a lot but I guess I do approach so called ukulele poised songs with one eye closed. That being said. Emma's music is just, well... wow. Her track Take It All Back from her "Peach Tree" EP has a wonderful musical and narrative arc. It starts like a pretty folk song with Emma's well bodied passionate vox and beautiful yet acidic prose, "It's like scratching the pavement with your finger nails.." and that is the thing, before you know it the song swells with powerful downbeats with what feels like orchestrated alt folk / baroque pop with a punk attitude. I thought at once of Fiona Apple and Amanda Palmer. Of the song, Emma shares:

"Take It All Back is my empowerment anthem. I am extremely passionate about how to make oppositions compliment each other. No one expects a ukulele to be in a punk song, which I feel really relates to me because no one expects someone as sweet as I come across to have lyrics like 'You should go before you love me'. The most important lyrics to me in this song are 'It's like scratching the pavement with your finger nails..' I wanted to write about feeling numb and imagining ways I could feel something again. Wanting to feel and taste again and come back to life."

So, as you can tell my half eyed squint turned to wide eyed wonder. Take It All Back is a beautiful track and one hell of a ukulele song.
-
Robb Donker Curtius





THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:

"Meet Emma Grace, a Chicago-born singer, songwriter and theater artist whose songs are as emotional as they are empowering. Her music is no-frills, unapologetically honest, and driven by the bold pairing of her distinct alto voice and baritone ukulele. Each song tells a story."

Take It All Back is my empowerment anthem. I am extremely passionate about how to make oppositions compliment each other. No one expects a ukulele to be in a punk song, which I feel really relates to me because no one expects someone as sweet as I come across to have lyrics like "You should go before you love me". The most important lyrics to me in this song are "It's like scratching the pavement with your finger nails.." I wanted to write about feeling numb and imagining ways I could feel something again. Wanting to feel and taste again and come back to life.