Watch the Fireworks

Emma Pollock

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 11, 2007)
• Original Release Date: September 11, 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: 4ad Records
• ASIN: B000T7QX9Q
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #135,796 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Pollack is a former member of Glasgow legends The Delgados, and a founder of their pioneering Chemikal Underground record label. This debut combines lyrical twists and radiant melodies into a gorgeous and organic whole. The songs are fresh, modern, and personal, deftly constructed and littered with great hooks. "Emma Pollock has a terrific voice - slightly scuffed and casually soulful" - Time Out London.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Triumphant solo debut, October 1, 2007

By	Laurence Upton (Wilts, UK) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

For those of us almost in mourning over the loss of the Delgados in April 2005, a treasured and underrated unique-sounding band, the consolation of an album by Emma Pollock, one of its principal members, has been a very long time coming. The news, shortly after the amicable split, that she had been signed to the highly suitable Four A.D. label was soon followed by radio appearances on which promising new songs such as Paper And Glue and Limbs were performed acoustically with the help of brother-in-law Jamie Savage on second guitar and piano. In Spring 2007 she was back on the radio, still previewing the songs, this time also sharing piano duties with Jamie Savage, as the album, although it had been recorded in the main between March and April 2006 at the new Chem19 Studios in Hamilton and added to in New York later in the year, was still not out.

I'm pleased to report that the delay has been worthwhile as the album cracks and sizzles with confidence and style throughout its forty-three minutes, and reveals to me for the first time just how much of a contribution Emma Pollock must have made to the Delgados. Although it is more stripped back and lacks the big orchestral arrangements of some Delgados records (a cello, played by Alan Barr, escapes onto just one song), in many ways it sounds more like a Delgados record than Universal Audio did: the enchanting vocals that give the songs their soul, at time airy, at others melancholic; the entwining and surprising melodic structures and sounds; and not least the evocative, distinctive and intelligent lyrics.

Of course, former Delgados drummer and husband Paul Savage also contributes to the sound, additionally supplying dulcimer and omnichord. The other musicians on the record apart from Jamie Savage are Campbell McNeil (from Aerogramme) and Graeme Smillie on bass guitars, and the additional guitar of Knox Chandler, added to some of the songs in New York at the suggestion of producer Victor Van Vugt. The album is something of a triumph. Set alight and stand back to enjoy.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great, surprisingly upbeat too..., September 23, 2007

By	Glenn F. Griffith - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm a big fan of Emma's earlier work with the Delgados and am quite surprised that she's turned out such an upbeat album. I expected something more dour, I suppose.

Anyway, like her best work on The Great Eastern only soaring and life-affirming with just hints of the brooding intensity of the Delgados' best moments.

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful album, typical recent garbage sound quality, October 26, 2008

By	Ronald W. Garrison "Mondo Sinistro" (Chapel Hill NC USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I would give a premium price for this album properly remastered. It's that good. As another reviewer commented, it's got the hooks; it's also got real depth and maturity and sophistication. You get the feeling there is much more under the surface in many of these songs, including a lot of anger in places that calls for some discussion.

If only the music were given some space to breathe. What a sonic atrocity. Those responsible for squeezing the life out of this album with their demonic compressors and limiters should not only be fired, but blacklisted. But I guess if you did that consistently, you might have to fire most of those in the music industry.