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Emmy the Great: 'Live music's going to be weird, but it also might be cathartic'

The singer-songwriter on how Hong Kong inspired her new album, why she then had to leave, and the first thing she’ll do when we’re Covid-free

Emma-Lee Moss, 36, has recorded four albums as Emmy the Great, including her forthcoming LP, April /月音, inspired by explorations of her Hong Kong-Chinese identity (her mother is from Hong Kong, where Emmy lived until she was 12). She is also a soundtrack composer, journalist and radio documentary maker. She lives in London with her partner and 20-month-old daughter. On 17 October she plays one of the Barbican’s autumn series of live concerts, which will also be streamed for digital audiences.

What made you want to explore your Hong Kong life through music?
Every album I’ve done has felt like it was working something out and I felt this would be about figuring out how to get home. I was living in New York in 2017 and I’d had two places I called home – England and Hong Kong. One minute, I was visiting my parents thinking about writing some songs and the next the album was written. It came so easily. I fell in love with this city caught between two destinies.

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from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2HyFsOG
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