Emily And The Woods: Eye To Eye

If you ask me, Newton Faulkner suffered at the hands of his producer. Sure, his songs might not be all that great, but he was a powerful live performer with charm and talent aplenty; on record, however, he merely comes across as Mr. Bland from Bland City. I mention Faulkner here to highlight the delicate and mystical alchemy that goes into capturing a great live performer 'on tape' and how such a process can easily miss its mark.

My first exposure to Emily And The Woods - the nom de guerre of singer/songwriter Emily Wood - was the session she did for Location Music TV back in November 2011, and while I've never seen her play live, this 'live' session (along with the many others she's recorded for a whole host of people) shows an adept and assured solo performer.

So what, then, of her recordings? Fleshed out with a full line-up, the songs hold up remarkably well. Perhaps that the extra instrumentation meshes so well with Emily's hushed and delicate vocal stylings is the result of the band being something of a family affair - with a Benjamin Wood on electric guitar and a Patrick Wood handling acoustic guitar, bass and piano along with the production duties.

All in all the Woods' production seems to be something of a self-made affair, with no visible signs of label support or any of the trappings of the industry at large. The only people visibly backing her are OMG Music, a fledgling production company based in Surrey (who, ironically, represent a certain Mr. Faulkner) but despite the apparent lack of resources, her Eye To Eye EP sounds remarkably professional.

If I'm honest, this 'professional' sheen could be as much a curse as a blessing: the traditional word to use in these circumstances is 'slick', and that's not a charge that sits well with the delightfully ramshackle performances that come across in her live videos. That said, the only real flaw that I can detect in the record is the slightly overzealous percussion that's been slapped all over Steal His Heart, which is a shame, as it's my favourite song of hers. But then my opinion of the song was forged watching her solo performance, so maybe I'm just predisposed to prefer a stripped back version.

The EP certainly seems to be going down well in the blogosphere, and it was only after a whole slew of favourable reviews over at Breaking More Waves that I finally got around to buying Eye To Eye (which can be found, along with a few other things, at her Big Cartel shop page). It's been a few months since the EP was launched, but Emily And The Woods are still releasing a steady stream of impressive performances through YouTube, and with the growing groundswell of blog-based support I'll bet it won't be long before they hit the big time. This is one band wagon I'll be proud to say I jumped on as soon as I was able.