EMILY DAVIES – ALBUM REVIEW

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Emily Davies – Free to Roam 

Release Date: Out Now

I am going to start with apologies all round on this one because I have been sitting on this for a while now and that’s just now fair to anyone. I’ve let you down, I’ve let Emily down, I’ve let myself down and I have no reasonable excuse other than I was waiting for the right time to sit down and write about this. It turns out, however, that a Sunday evening on the eve of Spring in the UK is exactly the right time so grab a cup of something warming (or a glass, no judgement here) and let’s ease in to this one shall we?

Emily Davies is a Devon based musician with connections to LWM favourites Harbottle and Jonas which is a strong start but, to be honest, ‘Free to Roam’ more than stands up on its own as a work of musical art. Opening track ‘Daniel’ has a pleasing acoustic strum and harmonica pairing which is immediately redolent of Laura Marling or Wildwood Kin as Davies mixes minor and major harmonies with purity and perfection. Title track ‘Free to Roam’ is a tad more floating and has folk influences worn in its sleeve as Davies sings of a common situation where you feel like everyone is else in your circle is sorted and you’re still spinning in the wind (spoiler alert; nobody is ever as sorted as you think they are).

The gorgeous harmonica of Oliver Tatler is back on ‘Out West’, perfectly accompanying the finger picking and sweet, twilight vocals like the last song sung around a campfire before heading out for pastures new at first light. On ‘Remember Well’ we are treated to a Carole King meets Carly Simon masterclass in songwriting while ‘Disarm Me’ finds Davies taking to the piano for a dramatic and heartfelt love song of epic proportions. The piano theme continues on the instrumental ‘In the Small Hours’ which feels like it has been lifted straight from the score of the kind of film that warms the heart and opens the tear ducts.

You get the impression from this album that Davies can move effortlessly from piano to guitar without missing a beat or a note which is a rare enough talent but to then have the quality of voice and songwriting ability that is on show here as well is, well, it’s pretty darn impressive. ‘Spin It Out’ is a great example of this as the story telling flows as easily as the violin notes before ‘This Is Love’ takes over as a demonstration of what an utterly honest and pure love song should sound like (warning, if you really pay attention to the lyrics then you may well be reduced to a blubbering mess). ‘Stay the Same’ reminds me very positively of the early solo work of Zoe Johnston such is its beauty, intimacy and simplicity.

The penultimate song is ‘Wherever You Are’, a song which makes me want to slow dance with someone I love in the dusky glade of a woodland somewhere surrounded by Bluebells and dappled light – Emily Davies has that kind of aura about here. As befits an album of such delicate beauty, proceedings are wound up with the simple and gorgeous ‘Lullaby’ which should be handed out on CD to every new parent before they leave the hospital such is its calming quality and universal appeal.

I am often in awe of artists like Emily Davies who seem to perform and write with such effortless splendour whilst never begging for the limelight or shouting about themselves, so it’s left for people like me to do: EMILY DAVIES IS A SUPREMELY TALENTED SINGER-SONG WRITER WITH A HEAVENLY VOICE AND LYRICS THAT WILL ENTHRALL YOU. Sorry for shouting.

More information: https://www.emilydavies.co.uk/