- Words Notion Staff
EMELINE talks to us about her latest single, “Venting to Strangers”, sold-out shows and getting recognised by Elton John.
EMELINE is an artist on the rise who, since scoring a viral hit with “Cinderella’s Dead”, continues to amass millions of streams and views on her dexterous discography. Having just released a new single, titled “Venting to Strangers”, the artist’s uncompromising musical approach has built a fanbase who crave her captivating and performative nature.
Recently, EMELINE completed a successful tour across the US, selling out dates in New York and Los Angeles. Cementing herself as a breakout star, the experience only increased her profile and reinforced the talent critics are raving on about. Casting a spell over her fans, thanks to a unique vocal range and positive approach to life, EMELINE is going from strength-to-strength and quickly reaching an icon-like status.
Intensely relatable, “Venting to Strangers” opens a more vulnerable dialogue between EMELINE and her music. It’s an angle she’s willingly explored before but not to the scale this single beholds. The music video displays her in a hollow setting, matching the lonely storyline presented through her lyrics.
We spoke with the singer-songwriter about manifesting a career in music, living life to the fullest and creating vulnerable bangers.
Hey EMELINE! Now’s November been treating you so far?
Good! Resting a bit around holiday season has been nice for a change.
Congratulations on the new single – can you tell us a bit about the intentions behind “Venting To Strangers”?
Thank you so much. In terms of my artistry, I felt ready show a deeper look at my soul. It was very vulnerable for me to write this song. It was a painful diary entry. And I think there’s a lot of poetry in the title itself, since I’m sharing my story and “venting to strangers” to whoever listens. I hope that this song can help people feel less alone in being lonely, and help someone feel understood amidst hard times in life.
I feel like the idea of a friendship break-up isn’t given the same amount of energy as romantic ones – but they really can be just as painful, if not worse! Do you find inspiration from personal experiences, or where do you draw your ideas from usually to tap into such raw emotion?
My writing is usually 90% directly personal and 10% subconscious. I probably wrote 16 songs about that friendship breakup before being able to articulate the experience how I wanted to in “venting to strangers”. It was hard to write since I was in pain without distance to observe my own feelings. Sometimes my job feels like venting to strangers… Which is both emptying and freeing.
How do you feel like this new release relates to previous tracks like “cinderella’s dead”? Have you learnt anything about yourself or your music since then?
I wrote “Venting to Strangers” at such a different time in my life than when I wrote “cinderella’s dead”. I’ve learned so much. It just really shows how life never stops changing and we never stop learning lessons. But you can’t have the high of certain feelings without the low of others, and that’s just being a human. It’s important for me to give both sides of my heart and experience to my fans.
Talking about “cinderella’s dead”, it’s now hit over 61 million streams on Spotify alone – did you imagine how many people would love the track?
I always had a gut feeling that “cinderellas’s dead” was really special and saw that for the song so I wasn’t that surprised honestly. It’s so incredible to watch it take on many lives and connect to other peoples stories outside of my own.
If you were introducing someone to your music who hadn’t listened to any before – what song would you point them to and why?
It depends on the person’s vibe and what I think they would like the most… But probably “cinderella’s dead” because it’s both vulnerable and a banger.
You recently completed a run of sold-out shows across the US, are there any of your tracks you feel like crowds respond to particularly intensely? And how did the shows go?
My favorite song to sing on that tour was “Venting to Strangers” I tear up in the 2nd verse every show… Every time I lock eyes with someone in the audience and it’s so emotional.
How did you get into music? Do you remember when you realised music could be a full time career?
I knew since I was a child that this is what I would be doing with my life. I’ve honestly devoted my entire life to becoming the best songwriter I can be, and would try to write a better song than the last every single day since I was about nine years old. I just couldn’t stop making melodies and writing poems.
Have you had any pinch-me moments in your career so far? And is there anything you’d love to achieve in the next few years?
I think my biggest pinch me moment yet has been getting recognized by Elton John for my pop songwriting. I’m still not over the fact that he played “this is how i learn to say no” on his radio show.
What’s next for EMELINE?
I’m making and finishing a lot of songs! Many of which my fans have been begging for me to release from video teases… And I will be living life to the fullest for myself and for my art.