Emma Ballantine - Tourist

Emma Ballantine, originally from Salisbury, released her debut EP ‘Flying Machine’ a couple of years ago. Although a fairly stripped back affair, which placed the singer-songwriter on the edges of the folk genre, it was obvious from her songs that here was an artist who wasn’t prepared to be restricted to any one category. ‘Don’t Let Go’ from that EP has the opening lines of “Yesterday my car went off the road/I could’ve died, upside down beside the steering wheel feeling cold inside” which belied the lively melody of the song and the sing-along catchiness of the chorus. It was, along with sections of the other three songs featured there, quite unlike any other song around back then. As with all good music it was difficult to pinpoint just what made the songs so appealing - they just were - and it was even more difficult to place Emma’s music into any single genre; much of this was because Emma has the ability to use her vocals to shade her songs. The way she vocalises doesn’t just add texture. There are different levels of light in there too. ‘Tourist’ features four new songs from Emma and a cover of Suzanne Vega’s ‘The Queen and the Soldier’. The EP was recorded at Monnow Valley Studios in Wales and produced by Peter Waterman with the same creativity that the young producer showed when he recently performed the same task on ‘Red & Gold’, the debut album by Hattie Briggs. Although the songs on Emma’s debut EP gave little doubt that here was yet another multi-talented artist who deserved your attention, this new batch of songs does benefit from the production skills of Waterman. While Emma’s take on ‘The Queen and the Soldier’ is actually more affecting than the original it also recalls the sound of the songs on Emma’s debut EP. Even though he’s left his stamp on Vega’s song, it seems that Waterman’s brought out the best in Emma’s own songs. It’s another case of artist and producer working in perfect harmony and bringing out the best in each other. Opening song, ‘The Love I Seek’, owes a little debt to Amy MacDonald. Emma’s vocals are powerful and if there’s any justice then the song will be picked up by radio programmers shortly. It’s a good introduction to Emma’s music and eases the listener into what is the most dramatic track we’ve yet to hear from her, ‘Perfect Crime’. Vocally, while some of her contemporaries are covering much the same ground, Emma has the ability to sound more convincing than most and it’s on this song and the following track, ‘Tourist’, where the combination of a producer who totally understands the artist he is working with together with an extremely talented songwriter really comes to shine. The way both Emma’s voice and the music subtly gather momentum during the course of the title track is truly breathtaking. The closing ‘Fall’ is the nearest in overall sound to Emma’s debut EP, a little sparse musically compared to what has gone before on this latest collection but that only gives Emma’s voice a chance to really be at the centre of the song. Again it’s another remarkable vocal performance. ‘Tourist’ is going to introduce Emma Ballantine to a much wider audience than her debut EP. While her songwriting skills were there from the beginning, bringing in an enthusiastic and skilled producer like Waterman has brought extra layers to her sound, and the end result is a accomplished set of songs which shows that established singers like Florence Welch had better up their game. ‘Tourist’ is available on CD on Emma’s own Shut Up Jo label and also digitally from the usual sources. It’s well worth checking out but be aware...Emma Ballantine has a voice that it’s so easy to be smitten with.