Emma-Lee Moss (born 4 November 1983), known by her stage name Emmy the Great, is an English singer-songwriter. She has released four studio albums, ''

First Love First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

'', ''Virtue'', ''Second Love'' and ''April / 月音''. She sings in English and in Chinese.

Early life and education

Moss was born in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

to an English father and a Chinese mother. Interested in music from a young age, she used to go by train to her nearest

Tower Records Tower Records is an international retail franchising, franchise and online music store that was formerly based in Sacramento, California, United States. From 1960 until 2006, Tower operated retail stores in the United States, which closed when ...

shop so that she could buy the only non-Chinese music they had and, as a result, she developed a liking for bands such as

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Brian Bell (guitar, keyboards, backing ...

The Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also simply known as Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band formed in Chicago in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha, bassist D'arcy Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. The ...

, and

The Lemonheads The Lemonheads are an American alternative rock band formed in Boston in 1986 by Evan Dando, Ben Deily, and Jesse Peretz. Dando has remained the band's only constant member. After their initial punk-influenced releases and tours as an indep ...

. A British citizen through her father, she moved with her family to London at the age of 11.

Career

Her first credited appearance was as a singer on the

Lightspeed Champion Devonté Hynes (born David Joseph Michael Hynes, 23 December 1985), also known as Blood Orange and formerly Lightspeed Champion, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, composer and director based in New York City. From 2004 to 2006, ...

album ''Falling Off the Lavender Bridge''. Her first recordings under the name ''Emmy the Great'' came in 2006, when she released a series of free demos over the internet while studying contemporary music at the

University of Westminster The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Po ...

Moss began writing her debut album, ''

'', in "dilapidated studios" owned by

The Earlies The Earlies are a band formed by Christian Madden and Giles Hatton from Lancashire, England, and Brandon Carr and John Mark Lapham from the United States. They are notable for blending elements from a wide range of musical genres and have been ...

in rural

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

and was released in February 2009. It spawned the singles "We Almost Had A Baby" and "

". The album was received with generally positive reviews, while ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' compiled their list of "Best Albums of the Year 2009" and ranked ''First Love'' at No. 7. Her second album, ''

Virtue A virtue () is a trait of excellence, including traits that may be morality, moral, social, or intellectual. The cultivation and refinement of virtue is held to be the "good of humanity" and thus is Value (ethics), valued as an Telos, end purpos ...

'', was released on 13 June 2011. The album's lead single "

Iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (given name), a feminine given name, and a list of peopl ...

" was released as a digital download on 29 April 2011. Speaking of the album's recording process, Moss said that, "It's been a very strange few months, and I can’t wait to make a record of them". Both albums are released on Emmy's own label, Close Harbour Records. After signing to the British label

Bella Union Bella Union is a British independent record label founded in 1997 by Simon Raymonde and Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins. It is now run solely by Raymonde. History After releasing records with 4AD for a large part of their career, Cocteau Twin ...

, her third album ''Second Love'' was released in 2016.

Collaborations

Moss has collaborated with several other artists, most notably

Dev Hynes Devonté Hynes (born David Joseph Michael Hynes, 23 December 1985), also known as Blood Orange and formerly Lightspeed Champion, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, composer and director based in New York City. From 2004 to 2006, ...

and

Fatboy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known as Fatboy Slim, is an English musician and DJ who helped popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. His music makes extensive use of Sampling (music), samples from eclectic ...

(the latter as part of the

Brighton Port Authority ''I Think We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat'' is the debut album of the British electronic act the Brighton Port Authority. It was released on Southern Fried on 6 January 2009 exclusively on amazon.com, with a regular release on 3 February. The ...

project). She has also worked with

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band

Ash Ash is the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash is the ...

on an acoustic studio re-recording of the single "D" – "Tracers" and also performed with them on their A-Z tour. Moss recorded a cover of Ash's song "Burn Baby Burn" which was the B-side to her single "First Love". Moss and Ash singer

Tim Wheeler Timothy James Arthur Wheeler (born 4 January 1977) is an Irish singer, songwriter and musician from Northern Ireland. He is the lead vocalist and guitarist of the alternative rock band Ash (band), Ash. He has written nearly all of Ash's notabl ...

collaborated on a Christmas album, ''This Is Christmas'', in 2011. In 2013, she announced on her Facebook page that she had contributed vocals and lyrics to Gabriel Bruce's debut album. In 2011, Moss performed with Elizabeth Sankey of

Summer Camp A summer camp, also known as a sleepaway camp or residential camp, is a supervised overnight program for children conducted during the summer vacation from school in many countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer residential camps ...

as a "super duo" singing "I've Never Had Sex" at the London Word Festival in 2011. Later that year, a portrait of Emmy the Great painted by British artist Joe Simpson was exhibited around the UK including a solo exhibition at

The Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

. On 31 October 2012, Moss teamed up with

Kate Nash Kate Marie Nash (born 6 July 1987) is an English musician and actress from North Harrow. Her singles "Foundations (song), Foundations" (2007) and "Do-Wah-Doo" (2010) charted at numbers 2 and 15 on the UK singles chart and her albums ''Made of Bri ...

on Halloween in a re-enactment of the ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. The concept is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film, also written by Whedon, a ...

'' musical episode (''

Once More with Feeling Once More with Feeling may refer to: Film and television * "Once More, with Feeling" (''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''), a musical episode of the American TV series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' * ''Once More, with Feeling!'', a 1960 film starring Yul ...

'') with herself as

Willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

. In 2013, Moss recorded original songs for the soundtrack for Sony Pictures' ''

Austenland ''Austenland'' is a 2007 novel by Shannon Hale, published by Bloomsbury. It follows protagonist Jane Hayes, a graphic designer living in New York City who is secretly obsessed with Jane Austen's 1813 novel ''Pride and Prejudice'', specifically ...

'', which appeared in the film alongside an original score by

Ilan Eshkeri Ilan Eshkeri (born 7 April 1977) is a British composer known for his concert music, films scores and artist collaborations. Early life Eshkeri was born in London. During his childhood, he learned to play the violin and guitar. Eshkeri attend ...

. In 2015, she wrote the end song for '' Mystery Show'', a podcast by the broadcaster

Starlee Kine Starlee Kine (born April 8, 1975) is an American public radio producer and writer. Early life Kine grew up in the Los Angeles area. Kine studied play and screen writing at New York University, and then began working for the ''This American Li ...

. In 2017, she wrote original music for ''Strangers'', a series by the filmmaker Mia Lidofsky, as well as the original songs for comedian

Sara Pascoe Sara Patricia Pascoe (born 22 May 1981) is an English comedian, actress, presenter and writer. She has appeared on television programmes including ''8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown'' and ''Taskmaster (TV series), Taskmaster'' for Channel 4 and ...

's stage adaptation of

Jane Austen Jane Austen ( ; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for #List of works, her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment on the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century ...

's ''

Pride and Prejudice ''Pride and Prejudice'' is the second published novel (but third to be written) by English author Jane Austen, written when she was age 20-21, and later published in 1813. A novel of manners, it follows the character development of Elizabe ...

''.

Other writing

Moss has written for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'',

Vice Media Vice Media Group LLC is a Canadian-American digital media and broadcasting company. Vice Media encompasses four main business areas: Vice Studios Group (film and TV production); Vice TV (a joint venture with A&E Networks, also known as Vicelan ...

and for music magazine '' The Stool Pigeon''. An article of hers, based on her time in

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

with

, is featured in the ''Stool Pigeon'' compilation book ''Grace Under Pressure''. Her writing style has been praised as poetic.

Personal life

During the writing of her second album ''

,'' Moss' atheist fiancé underwent a religious conversion and left her as a result, moving abroad to serve as a Christian missionary. Her song "Trellick Tower" is thought to have been inspired by this. She has since dated collaborator

frontman

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (Close Harbour, 2009) * ''

'' (Close Harbour, 2011) * ''Second Love'' (Bella Union, 2016) * ''April / 月音'' (Bella Union, 2020)

Collaborative albums

*''This is Christmas'' (Infectious, 2011) with Tim Wheeler *''Austenland Original Movie Soundtrack'' (Madison Gate, 2011) with Ilan Eshkeri

Live albums

*''Acoustic Bonus CD – Live at 12 Bar, London'' (Rough Trade Shops, 2009)

EPs

*''Take Me I'm Free'' (2006) *''My Bad'' ( Moshi Moshi, 2008) *''Chris Moss EP'' (2007) *''

Edward Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...

'' (Close Harbour, 2009) *''S'' (Bella Union, 2015) *''再來的愛'' (Plumeria, 2018)

Singles

*"Secret Circus/ The Hypnotist's Son" ( Drowned in Sound, 2007) *"Gabriel" (Moshi Moshi, 2007) *"We Almost Had A Baby" (Close Harbour, 2008) *"

" (Close Harbour, 2009) *"A Woman, A Woman, A Century of Sleep" (2011) *"

" (Close Harbour, 2011) *" Paper Forest (In the Afterglow of Rapture)" (Close Harbour, 2011) *"God of Loneliness" (Close Harbour, 2012) *"Swimming Pool" (Bella Union, 2014)

Music videos

*"Gabriel" 7" (Moshi Moshi, 2007) *"The Easter Parade" (2007) *"We Almost Had a Baby" (2008) *"First Love" (2009) *"MIA" (2009) *"Iris" (2011) *"Paper Forest" (2011) *"God of Loneliness" (2012) *"Zombie Christmas" (2012) *"Swimming Pool" (2014) *"Algorithm" (2016) *"Constantly (English version)" (2016) *"Constantly (Chinese version)" (2016)

References

External links

* * * statistics, tagging and previews at

Last.FM Last.fm is a music website founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. Utilizing a music recommender system known as "Audioscrobbler", Last.fm creates a detailed profile of each user's musical preferences by recording the details of the tracks they ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Emmy The Great 1984 births Living people Alumni of the University of Westminster Anti-folk musicians British Asian musicians English people of Hong Kong descent English women singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters Hong Kong people of English descent Singers from London 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers Bella Union artists Noah and the Whale members British women punk rock singers English women rock singers Moshi Moshi Records artists