Why Creating Music In A Castle In France Convinced Emma Louise Not To Give Up Music

"It's the most powerful, powerful thing," Emma Louise extols on music. "And it tends to our 'inny' bits - you know? - which we all have, but are almost ashamed of and we don't let people see, 'cause our skin holds it in... [Music is] so healing and that's why I love it." Given Emma Louise's obvious passion for music, it's alarming to discover she "was so close to not doing music ever again".

Of her early musical explorations, Emma Louise reminisces, "I would busk and play residencies and upload songs onto YouTube. And it was really just me and music, and it filled me with - it made me so happy, you know? And I was just walking around all the time on a cloud... I was fulfilled. Then all of a sudden, when Jungle came out, all of these people just flooded into my life." After specifying she's definitely not on about her long-time manager Rick Chazan, Emma Louise continues, "I just had all these people telling me what to do and also people that I was working with that, I guess, wanted to control what I was doing. And then, in the meantime, they were just grinding me down. And, like, it took me a really, really long time to get my confidence back, you know?"

"I kind of went away thinking, 'I wanna make Supercry into something. I'm either gonna change my name to Supercry or, like, I'm gonna make a fashion label..."

Between her Vs Head Vs Heart and Supercry albums, Emma Louise did a lot of soul searching and travelled widely to countries such as Japan, America, Europe, New Zealand and Mexico - "I was never home, really". On "one of the most dangerous places" she visited, Emma Louise recalls, "I booked this cabin on top of a mountain in Japan in the middle of winter." After Emma Louise's Airbnb host dropped her off, she "got snowed in for two days". "I didn't even know that I was snowed in and there was no mobile reception," she marvels. That is until Emma Louise's Airbnb host came to check in on her. "He came up at, like, 11 this one night with a kerosene heater strapped to his back - inside of a suitcase - with an extension lead wrapped around him... So it was, like, minus 20 or something [degrees] outside and it was minus ten inside because the heaters kept breaking. But there was this one room that had electricity so, you know, I had an electric blanket and all this kinda stuff and a super-super warm jacket." Emma Louise remembers ("funnily enough") that the jacket of which she speaks "had this little label that said 'Supercry' on it". This was during the period when Emma Louise wasn't sure whether she "was gonna do music again". "I kind of went away thinking, 'I wanna make Supercry into something. I'm either gonna change my name to Supercry or, like, I'm gonna make a fashion label or, you know, something Supercry. And I've still got the jacket with Supercry on it."

Taking a sip of espresso, Emma Louise makes a sound to express her appreciation of the brew. When asked how the Supercry concept came to mind, explains, "On one of my last shows on the Vs Head Vs Heart tour... I think I just really desperately wanted to completely change everything about me and then I was like, 'I'm gonna be this thing called Supercry'. But then it just ended up turning into the album name."   

"That suit was one of the first ones that I did. And it's not really made to play in, I don't think; it's hard to sit down in even."

While Emma Louise was in London "singing for the remix of Jungle", she was still in a place where she didn't want to do her "own thing", musically, anymore, deeming it "too painful". Then Chazan suggested Louise meet Belgian producer Pascal Gabriel. Emma Louise remembers, "Pascal was like the coolest guy. And then we recorded this one song, which was Colours, and he was just so fun to work with and just so easy... And he was like, 'Look, I've got this castle' - he didn't say castle, he would've said house - 'in the south of France. Come over and check it out'." On the village of Sablet in the south of France where Gabriel is based, Emma Louise gushes, "It was just the most beautiful place in the world! And we went bike riding every morning... Just living with him and his wife Pippa, who's the most incredible person; she was like my new idol [laughs] - the whole experience was just 'music' being like, 'See? It's not hard, it's really good. Just come back and do it,' you know?" 

Throughout her latest Supercry set, Emma Louise's vocals are textured and steeped in emotion, all delicate vulnerability. Emma Louise praises Gabriel's production approach: "His attention to detail - and emotional detail - is so amazing." She recalls with a chuckle, "Sometimes, for some songs, we'd both be like, 'Okay, before this track we need to drink some red wine'." Other artists Gabriel has worked with include Kylie, Dido, Ladyhawke and Little Boots and Emma Louise observes, "He kind of specialises in vocals, and female vocals, as well."

What sounds like a kid's choir closes out West End Kids and Emma Louise reveals, "Well that's actually Pascal's nieces! Yeah, super-cute."

Like a cross between Annie Lennox and Chloe Sevigny, Emma Louise is effortlessly stylish. She wears a chocolate brown bowler hat, her platinum blonde locks curling out disobediently from under the brim. A black printed T-shirt under navy velvet blazer completes the look. The suit she wears for our cover shoot is one of Emma Louise's own designs. "That suit was one of the first ones that I did," she shares. "And it's not really made to play in, I don't think; it's hard to sit down in even." Emma Louise started designing clothes "because it's so hard to find good women's suits that are a little bit androgynous and with kinda bold colours and patterns". She works with a tailor to bring her designs to life and Emma Louise points out she likes "quite boxy" suits with "bigger shoulders".  

When told she's very generous with how much of her own experience she expresses through song, Emma Louise admits it's "kind of healing". "Sharing anything with anyone makes you feel better," she posits. After pointing out there's really a time limit on how much you can offload on your friends, Emma Louise shares, "It's so nice being able to be like, to an audience, 'Hey, guys, this is what I'm still going through,' or, 'This is what I went through' - you know? - without them having to say anything back... That's the best thing about music; [the audience is] just like, 'Fuck! Same here!' you know? I never worry about putting too much of me in songs; sometimes even though I just don't really have a filter. I'm just like [mimes offloading her heart onto the table], 'Everything!'" she laughs.

After turning her back on music for a while, Emma Louise promises, "I'll never do that again. Music is just the best thing. It's also extremely - it's like a really intense relationship, you know?" On looking out and seeing an audience embracing her music, Emma Louise enthuses, "It's the best thing in the world... when you can see it happening, it's really good. But I think a lot of the time when you don't see that, you're kind of doubting it a lot. But then you listen to someone else's music and, you know, you're just like, 'Wow'. I feel pretty lucky to be able to do this for my job. Even though it does take a toll on me, definitely."