Nothing beats the joy in discovering new music – especially when you least expect it. Of course, I encounter new music all the time – it goes with the territory when you are a music blogger who receives hundreds of new music submissions per month via email – but sometimes, all it takes is for one unique tune to jump out and create that indescribable sensation that just tickles a sweet spot when least expected.
With the car stereo tuned into one of my favorite SXM radio stations, that rush of endorphins was triggered during an office commute a few months back when a previously unheard tune burst through the airwaves. It is not uncommon for a few simple bluesy acoustic guitar strums to perk the senses, but within the first few seconds? Ditto for the discreet dobro licks that would follow. No, something special was happening…
“It’s the middle of the night / Baby I don’t wanna fight / We’ve got tempers like mad dogs / And I don’t want to see them bite.” These opening lines from “Devil That You Know” not only earned my full attention (well, beyond that needed to concentrate on the highway traffic) but had me scrambling to discover just who was delivering them. “We’ve slammed every door / Left the splinters on the floor / Sometimes I hate you / Sometimes I don’t wanna do this anymore.” With the radio display flashing up the name Emma Elena Grace, while I had zero familiarity with the artist, the name was promptly locked away for future reference. “I could easily one day get up and / Find a plane to take me far away / But they say it’s better the devil that you know / Than the devil that you don’t.”
Fast forward a few weeks, and during a long weekend in southern Ontario, I found myself randomly flicking through the new arrival bins at our favorite Hamilton record store when Emma’s name flashed up once again. Hitting the brakes on my rapid sifting, I backed up and paused to confirm that this was the very same Emma Elena Grace. Check. Pulling the record gently from the tightly packed bin, I perused the reverse side for the track “Devil That You Don’t.” Check, again. And flipping back to the front side once more, I noticed a store sticker attached stating Local Artist. While I never did get around to that previously planned additional artist research, I suddenly found myself holding “Whole Years,” a 2025 album release from an emerging, independent Ontario artist. This album was destined to take a road trip and find a new home in Pennsylvania.
Spinning the album on the GDW turntable, this is pure Americana music at its best. From the album’s opening number, “The Sound,” to the hauntingly beautiful closer “Cold and Dark,” Emma straddles a fine line between the folk-country music of both today and yesteryear – hints of Kacey Musgraves and Margo Price certainly spring to mind. The choices for additional instrumentation vary per track, but this artist clearly has a sharp ear and strong sense for injecting the appropriate cues when expected – the beautiful strings on “The Sound,” the Hammond cues on “Medicine,” and the soothing pedal steel on “Dying, and especially “Like A Man,” emanate from the speakers with perfect timing.
“I started writing these songs in 2015, at the age of 21. So much has changed since then – both within me and around me – yet I still find new meaning and resonance in each one of these songs with every new phase of my life,” Emma shared on her social media when the album was officially released back in February. “For the longest time, I struggled to find the right title for this album. One time, listening to the song ‘Traffic,’ the words ‘whole years’ hit me in a new way. At that point I had been working on this record for literally a whole bunch of years, with those years themselves being whole and full and… you get it. A few weeks later I happened to be googling what the name Emma meant, only to find out that it means ‘whole’.”
This combination of excellent instrumentation and craftily woven lyrics results in a listening experience where each track ebbs and flows to create a wholly holistic piece. With no fillers, and no weaknesses, Emma has curated a stellar collection of contemporary modern folk-country numbers guaranteed to earn many repeated spins here at GDW HQ. A highly recommended ten-years-in-the-making album from a not-necessarily-emerging new talent out of the Hammer. Go ahead and add this one to your listening library, and hold bragging rights when “Whole Years” inevitably lands on a bunch of well-deserved year-end top album lists…
Photo Credit: Artist website
The British guy that crossed the ocean and crash landed in central Pennsylvania (to quote Greg Keelor, “And I wonder what am I doing here?”). As the youngest of four siblings, exposure to music from a very early age nurtured my passion and appreciation for many musical genres. Continuing to discover some amazingly diverse and talented musicians based in Canada, I gravitate to live music experiences and remain devoted to spreading the word about such a vibrant music scene.
