When you’ve returned from a long tour of the States, moved back in with mum, and struggling to conquer some frustrating writer's block, you might as well make the most of your bedroom to record some block-breaking ditties. This is exactly what Emily Edrosa, aka Emily Littler, endeavoured upon with the simplistically titled Emily Edrosa EP.
While she is traditionally the occasionally-fiery frontwoman of Street Chant, Emily pulls back some of the fervour you can get when you rock out with a band to replace it with a more measured and mature approach. Bedroom produced solo projects can often be sparse affairs, but with repeat listens of Emily Edrosa the many instrumental depths that have plumbed for each recording start to surface. Most of the tracks on have a few astral sounding guitars shimmering away, little shakers tingling each of your ears and a drum machine bedrock to keep it all together. ‘The Corner of the Party’ does this best, with lo-fi catchy guitar lines backed by the EP’s most endearing melody (and Emily’s lyrics dropping a c-bomb for good measure).
When judging each track individually there are some less absorbing moments, but played from beginning to end they all reside well together. It has a general Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Sonic Youth fragrance surrounding it, and despite the short run time there are always catchy remnants accrued with each listen. It’s great to hear Emily branching out, and it will be exciting to see how she evolves these newly found sounds for her full-length solo release currently in the works.
