A s Emmeline stands at the edge of Greenwich’s Church Street, the sky behind her stretches out in a thick, grey sheet of mist. It’s been an hour of turbulent conditions in south east London: sudden showers, blustery wind, faint clouds of thunder. This afternoon, the songwriter and slam poet was meant to adopt the role of a local tour guide, and take NME to visit her favourite Greenwich haunts; as a teenager, Emmeline lived in the town while studying at The National Youth Theatre. We might have scaled the historic Cutty Sark clipper ship, or even walked up to the Royal Observatory to take in the views of the National Maritime Museum and its panoramic backdrop of the London skyline.
Standing in the sheltered pathway of the local DLR station with our fingers crossed, it seems, won’t do – a determined front of rain has settled over the area. Instead, we find refuge in a large, pristine bookshop. Emmeline can barely suppress a childlike sense of wonder as she runs her fingers through rows of rainbow-coloured picture books, pausing momentarily to gaze at a fish tank. “I find it so easy to get carried away in places like this,” she says. “There’s just so much to take in!”
Emmeline’s music conjures a similar atmosphere of excitement and wonder. Over two EPs, 2022’s ‘Satellite Navigation System’ and its follow-up ‘Small-Town Girls And Soft Summer Nights’, the 23-year-old’s diaristic outpourings of emotion, and soft, spoken-word delivery, are matched with the comforting patter of gentle drum machine beats and tones of vintage soul. Like its predecessor, the latter release – which was named after a lyric from Frank Sinatra’s ‘It Was A Very Good Year’ – was produced by hitmaker Fraser T. Smith [Adele, Stormzy], whom Emmeline met at a gig, and soon struck up a creative partnership with.
Much like Loyle Carner’s earlier work or Bakar’s recent ‘Nobody’s Home’ album, Emmeline’s storytelling crushes together defiance and vulnerability while exuding a deep love for the friendships in her life. A move to the capital gave Emmeline a gateway to communities far outside her village of Marsden, west Yorkshire, and other like-minded teenagers with whom she could bond. As the daughter of current Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, she was encouraged by her parents to invest her time and energy in attending theatre groups.
“Music wasn’t in the picture until my late teenage years,” she says. As she picks at a slice of carrot cake in the bookshop’s cafe, she explains how, growing up as an only child, she was named in newspaper articles about her father, and attended his readings. “I was brought up in a home where I knew that being creative could be my career. It was ingrained in me that I had to take care of my creativity. I was fortunate to learn that,” she adds, truthfully, aware of the privilege that comes with having a parent who has succeeded in a creative industry.
Since branching out into music, Emmeline has become determined to face any challenges head-on, and independently. She currently leads the creative direction for her music videos, and in June, performed her first headline show at The Last Word Festival at London’s Roundhouse. Next month, she’ll support The Streets in Cardiff (September 7). Talking about her ambitions for the future, she puts it simply, “Following your creativity isn’t a linear path. Honing your musical identity can take a whole lifetime to build.”
Greenwich has played a key role in your development as an artist. When you look back at the person you were when you were living here, who do you see?
“I get a funny feeling whenever I walk around this area, as it reminds me of being 16 and opening up to living in a city environment for the first time. I remember feeling like the world around me was starting to open up. I now have a nice relationship with where I grew up, but when I was younger, I definitely felt frustrated by living in the countryside – it was a cushioned environment. I was always aware that there was a much more exciting and stimulating world away from home, and London showed me that.”
Did moving to London to pursue music live up to your expectations?
“My friends and I have this ‘23’ theory, in that it’s a very difficult year as you’re trying to live up to all the expectations of what you think your life should be like at this age. We talk a lot about the lack of a ‘third space’ in London; you have your home and your work, and then for a lot of young artists, there’s not necessarily a natural creative hub outside of that. My first year here was really tough. I have spent so much time trying to feel a sense of belonging, and I’m definitely still on that journey.”
Why does your hometown remain a main inspiration point for your songwriting?
“I think I’m just at an age where you realise that so much of who you are is where you’ve come from and who you have grown up around. I’m reflecting on my childhood because it’s over now. I’m looking back to when I was younger and thinking about how the music I listened to, and books that I read, inspired the music that I am making now. It’s been a big thing on my mind: having an understanding of the effect those formative years had on the person I am today.”
Your first EP ‘Satellite Navigation System’ explores what it means to foster a close-knit community. As an only child, how important have the friendships in your life been?
“Yeah, I didn’t have that natural sibling environment when I was younger, but I was quite lucky in the sense that with my parents’ jobs, I had to spend a lot of time in rooms full of adults. It was like, ‘Go fend for yourself here’. When I moved to London and started to spend more time on my music, I understood that I had to put the effort into finding the communities around me, and meeting like-minded people who want to achieve similar things to me.”
Have you ever been concerned about trying to separate yourself as an artist away from your father’s legacy? How did you perceive his work when you were a child?
“It’s a funny one. I think I went through a phase of resistance. When you’re nine, it’s the most insulting thing for someone to come up to you and say, ‘Would you like to do what your parents do?’. But then again, the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.
“I think I just felt the pressure, internally, of wanting to have my own voice. It was about wanting to say something in a medium that I could control. And now, I find myself in a completely different creative world compared to my parents. As a family, we are all super interested in how each person interacts with their own art form. I’m sure that growing up in a creative environment really inspired me – but I eventually found my own rhythm.”
What other career options were available to you growing up?
“I got to an age where I was deciding whether to try and go into acting, or to head to uni. I just loved reading, and studying analysis of language and speech. It turned out to be the right choice for me to study because it fleshed out my interest in writing, and I guess what I do now brings together all elements of performance with songwriting – it’s the best of both worlds.”
What do you get out of your bond with Fraser T. Smith?
“For me, making music was never really the plan. I used to think that being a musician was like being an astronaut – it only happens to a rare few. When I was younger, I fantasised about living the life of an artist but I didn’t ever think that it would be a realistic job in the future. So at the start of my career, I didn’t have much knowledge about how the music industry works, or what happens in the studio.
“I haven’t ever really spent time in the studio with anyone besides Fraser, which is a ridiculous standard to set so early on. I have done a lot of learning alongside him, and embraced my gut reaction to certain sounds. I think within that naivety, we bonded well because he has a wealth of experience, and enjoyed seeing how I was working instinctively rather than following a set process.”
How do you think you can apply those lessons learned to the music that you’re making?
“At an early stage, I have learned how to not say yes to everything, and what I want to take forward with me is that there is power in not making compromises. I’ve been in a really protective creative environment with Fraser, which has meant that I now know to speak up if there’s something I don’t like in the studio. Keeping up the momentum is important, but so is staying patient and keeping my feet on the ground.”
Emmeline’s ‘Small-Town Girls And Soft Summer Nights’ EP is out now