Visionary multi-instrumentalist, producer, and vocalist Emma-Jean Thackray today releases her most bold and genre-defying work to date: ‘Weirdo’. The new album is a triumphant, deeply personal statement from one of the UK’s most vital creative forces, written, performed, produced, recorded and mixed entirely by Thackray herself in her South London flat.
Drawing on an eclectic mix of influences—grunge, pop, soul, p-funk, and jazz— and exploring and celebrating the isolation of being different – the titular weirdo – the album is a triumphant celebration of survival and individuality, standing as a testament to Emma-Jean Thackray’s extraordinary musicianship and fearless self-expression.
Thackray tells us; “Making this record saved my life. I needed to find a way back to myself after being so lost and everything I am is music – nothing else matters. It’s not the first time I’ve made a record completely on my own, but this time was more important because I needed to put all my energy into myself. It’s a survival record – full of pain but also silliness. There are raw lyrics juxtaposed with joyful groove. Huge existential questions next to diary entries about making dinner. The dark comedy of grief. It’s a window into the worst year of my life, a journey through the depths of despair, but there’s some light on the other side.”
The album is full of irrepressible instant classics, written, played, and arranged with staggering skill and verve and conveying a huge spectrum of human emotion and experience. Try listening to the brilliantly catchy ‘Save Me’ without singing along before the song reaches the end of the first play. ‘Thank You For The Day’ is an iconic, hands-in-the-air anthem that emerged from life’s wreckage. Personality shines through especially strongly in the short songs peppered throughout – like the ultra-catchy ‘Fried Rice’ – tracks Emma-Jean describes as being more like diary entries than skits.
You can catch Thackray’s electrifying live show this year as she announces a full UK and European headline tour, including a show at London’s KOKO this November. Be sure to sign up to her mailing list to the the first to get tickets.
