Emily Blue’s 1980s Inspired Dreamworld in “The Afterlove”
Emily Blue pictures their latest release, “The Afterlove”, as a dream world where we interact with our loved ones after we’ve lost them. Their romantic lyricism paired with the 1980s inspired production creates an unordinary world filled with a warm, comforting sound. With previously released singles such as “7 Minutes”, “See U In My Dreams” and “The Afterlove” - Emily Blue’s project joins these well-loved records with the rest of the story of love and loss. With songs “Me Without U” and “Floating” sparkling with the iconic sound of the 1980s - “The Afterlove” and “When Your Candle Goes Out” produced with heavy, emotional themes yet so beautiful you’ll never want to turn them off; Emily Blue’s “The Afterlove” is the truthful yet refreshing start we need for 2022. The 9-track album flushed with lush synth textures introduces Blue’s engagement with a modern-pop style of production as well as their introduction to co-producing with other collaborators like Joseph Meland, Augustine Rompella, and LA’s Shubu. Creation of “The Afterlove” started alongside a close friend and producer, Max Perenchio, and was finished after his passing - the album carries Blue through real experiences of love and loss.
[UNPUBLISHED]: How did you first start getting into music, bring us back to the beginning.
[EMILY]: I’ve always been a really musical person, within a musical family. My mom likes to sing, and my dad plays the trombone. I’m an only child so I would have lots of time just for myself. When I was growing up, I played flute and the piano and started to write my own songs. I was also in some bands in high school and college, and I’ve just been doing it pretty much ever since I can remember to be honest.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What does The Afterlove mean to you?
[EMILY]: It’s an album that means so much to me. Because obviously, as you know, we’ve all collectively gone through a lot of things the past couple of years. I finished this album during the quarantine, I actually remember receiving the last master file like a month ago or something. I was just like ‘Finally, I made it through this milestone for myself’. It’s also a lot about losing loved ones and processing all the different emotions that come with love and loss. One major thing I think about is my producer and friend Max, he passed away last year. He produced the first three tracks on the record, and so, when he passed away, I had to finish this without him. That turned into leaning on a lot of other loved ones and friends to get it done. I also wrote some new songs when I was thinking about all those things. So there’s a lot to unpack basically. It’s about where we go when we lose someone.
[UNPUBLISHED: That is absolutely beautiful. Have you been recording the album since 2020 when the whole pandemic hit or was it after the first quarantine?
[EMILY]: There was some of the music ready before Covid hit and then at a certain point during the pandemic, I was like ‘I want to make this an album instead of a set of singles, and I’m really committed to exploring this concept now’. Covid played a part in a lot of it in terms of learning a lot of stuff that I’d never done before. I had to learn how to record and produce myself, and also co-produced some of the songs as well.
[UNPUBLISHED]: You said that whilst making this record, you were also exploring your queerness. How did the creation of the album help fuel your identity journey?
[EMILY]: I feel like everybody did this during the pandemic, but we really reflected on who we are as people and what is authentic to us. A lot of my music has been very queer-centric but I started also to explore my gender more during the lockdown where I realized that I’m not a cis-gendered person, I identify more as gender fluid. So, in the music what I try to do is wear different vocal / textural costumes. If I affect my voice to be a lot deeper, or even sing in a different style than I’m used to, then I learn something about myself. You really see a lot of sides of me in the subtle details, which I’m excited about.
[UNPUBLISHED]: I understand that you were originally based in Chicago and now are a Nashville resident. Has your location had any impact or influence on your artistic vision?
[EMILY]: I just wanted to move somewhere new for myself and explore my identity, and my happiness. Most of the record was done before I moved here from the writing side and stuff. I’ve been able to sort of zip it up and finish the final details. Since I live in Nashville and it’s obviously a very musical city, it’s got a very relaxed and friendly culture to it, which I’ve really enjoyed. I also love the outdoors, so that’s fun! I don’t know if that feeds into the music as much as my happiness.
[UNPUBLISHED]: One of my favourite songs off the album has to be “When Your Candle Goes Out”. There is so much emotion built up in those lyrics and through your voice, can we talk a bit about what that song means to you and the meaning behind it?
[EMILY]: When Max passed away, I remember it was Thanksgiving 2020 - the worst year of all time - I got a phone call and was extremely shocked. It was just super hard to receive that news but my partner at the time and I lit a candle for him and just meditated around it. I think it was that week, I was just in my little home studio and I wrote the song literally about that moment. When I lit the candle for him and sort of what it would feel like when the candle was burnt and gone. Dealing with an actual, ‘I’ve lost you’, that’s a really hard thing to admit to yourself. I sang it at my Chicago show when we were on tour, and a lot of people that knew him were in the audience. So it was a really nice moment, I think, for everybody to just pause and think about him for a second.
[UNPUBLISHED]: “Floating” was another one of my favourites off the album. Can you walk us through the writing process and creative process behind this song?
[EMILY]: That one’s actually Nashville produced. My friend Harry, we both work for a company called Lyric House which is country-wide. We just had this prompt where we needed a song with the word ‘floating’ in it. I was really feeling Sade as an artist and that slow 80s vibe track. And so we’re like, ‘Okay we’re gonna go with this direction’. It was written in a day, I swear. It just wrote itself. I think sometimes the best songs are like that.
[UNPUBLISHED]: To me, this album sounds like a love letter to the ‘80s sound that I absolutely adore. Did you have any specific inspirations when producing the album?
[EMILY]: Yes, the 80s is my favourite decade from music by far. So I really love Tears for Fears, Cher and Cyndi Lauper. There’s a lot of stuff that I was super inspired by when I was making this and every time we were producing something, I would just go listen to classic tracks and pull from them. Obviously, we’re making pop music, and it’s gonna be pretty modern but here and there it’s nice to have a little retro flavour.
[UNPUBLISHED]: If there is one thing that your listeners take away from the album, what message would you tell them?
[EMILY]: What I’ve learned about love is that there’s a lot of emotional ups and downs, and you need to embrace every single part. Because that just means that you’ve cared about someone and even the hardest things, you can still celebrate through them. Does that make sense? So I think that there is a lot of my emotional world built into this record. Lots of dancey, hype-you-up tracks, then there are tracks about craving something deeper or realising it’s time to move forward. I would say to embrace all of your feelings because they’re important.
[UNPUBLISHED]: As this is a start to a new year for your music career, following the release of your album, what are you looking forward to in your next year in music?
[EMILY]: It’s hard to say because, you know, stuff keeps getting canceled. I’m just excited for people to hear this record because it’s been probably three or more years in the making. It’s crazy to think about because I didn’t even notice how long it’s been. But I’m excited for people to hear how much I’ve grown as an artist. In terms of making new art, I have this amazing new community around me but I also have a lot more belief in my own abilities. So I’m excited to see what I write about.
[UNPUBLISHED]: How do you feel you have grown as an artist from your first album release *69 in 2018 to your 2022 release of The Afterlove?
[EMILY]: I think I had to learn how to be very decisive. To make choices that were purposeful in an arrangement, or even how I sing something. I feel like producing and making a record is like you’re making a puzzle, and you have to learn how to solve the puzzle at the same time. So I think I’ve learned a lot about how to be confident in my creative vision.
