Ah, Sunday evening, the lawn has been mowed, the chicken is a'roasting, kids have cleaned their shoes ready for school in the morning, just the fire to light, slippers to find and sit down in front of Last of the Summer Wine and Antiques Roadshow ahead of an early night, ready for a new week of opportunities and challenges. I then remembered that I was seeing the wonderful EMILY BREEZE at Exeter Phoenix, I made my apologies and reversed the freshly washed and polished car out of the garage and hit the road.
The Phoenix in Exeter was buzzing with activity, I knew that Emily was playing upstairs in the dance studio and as I looked around the bar, all I could see was hoards of people of a certain age, now I know that Emily reaches out to a wide variety of music lovers but this seemed to good to be true, there must have been 200 in the bar alone. I soon realised that Soft Machine were performing in the auditorium, hence the alternative turkey 'n tinsel brigade. I nipped upstairs where the sound engineer was making some final touches to the lights ahead of the show.
Opening the entertainment was a Bristol based duo called MUMBLE TIDE, a duo that have created a wonderful genre that they refer to as 'kaleidoscopic indie', which is held together by the lush vocals of Gina Leonard and the composition skills of Ryan Rogers. Their music was stripped back, minimal, thought provoking, certainly something for a 'listener'. Gina stuck to her acoustic guitar, Ryan moved between a series of electronic gadgetry including an old device that frequently broke down (normally when he was on stage performing) but after a well positioned slap, it started working again! He also pulled out a stole n accordion later in the set, he did mention that it was 'borrowed' from a school in Bodmin some years back, I'm sure their plan is to return it one day, maybe. They played a great track called 'Pea Soup' which has nothing to do with Pea Soup, instead, Gina added that it was what they had for lunch on the day it was recorded. They are releasing a new album on May 25th, but this date may slide owing to some issues they have encountered, keep an eye on their socials for a revised date when available.
I met Emily on the steps outside the front of The Phoenix where she was having a well deserved fag ahead of her show, she looked splendid in knee high silver sparkly boots that she told me were gifted to her at 2am in the morning after her Totnes show at The Barrel House in a 16th century cottage whilst playing pool (as one does). I introduced myself and she apologised for not getting the answers back to my expertly curated questions I drafted for our 'International Women's Day' interview that was supposed to run ahead of the show, not to worry, I can easily do a belated feature or hold onto it for another 12 months and use it in 2026...
She took to the stage with her full (amazing) band and tore through the 14 track setlist in good time, pausing to tune her guitar and comment on how silent the room was when all she wanted was for them to be chatting until she was ready. Clearly the stigma of 'talking at shows' was enough to keep people from chatting, much to Emily's dismay and she admitted that she is no good at tuning and talking at the same time, so we were patient until she was ready to carry on. Tracks from her two previous long players (Rapture and Rituals) were given an airing as well as three from her latest 'Second Rodeo EP' which was released in April 2024. '1997' was fun, it took me back to my childhood As Emily spoke of 'lynx Africa', 'warm White Lightning' and '10 Embassy's', the song was a treat, unearthing more and more upon every listen. Like a lot of her tracks, she draws upon her younger years to poke fun and make reference to the things we did, 'tribal tattoos' being just one!
'Confessions of an Ageing Party Girl' sounded as glamorous as the title makes out, whilst 'The Bell' saw everyone punching the air as the entire band chanted 'Fuck it, tomorrow's gonna be alright', an epic moment and certainly a highlight from the set. 'Part of Me' saw Emily take a seat on the stage as people gathered round her like she was about to start a bedtime story. Certainly the main highlight (there were many) of the entire show was 'Graceland', a track that clocks in at over 6 minutes on her 'Second Rodeo EP' but easily saw an extra minutes added to the live version which included a full on breakdown with the electric guitar being shredded within an inch of it's life as Emily rolled around the floor as the chaos reached fever pitch.
I saw Emily in the same room at The Phoenix back in 2023 and I don't recall it being as exciting as it was tonight, maybe I'm just a little more tuned into her music and having time to soak in her sonic bath for 18 months, I have finally seen the light. Emily mentioned that her new long player is set for release in July, I shouted out "What's it called", to which she shushed me and launched into another song! I know that she and the band are planning some album launch shows around the release date and a couple more dates later in the year, whatever and wherever, I will be at the Bristol date which I understand is taking place at a venue called 'Strange Brew', not far from the Rough Trade shop on Nelson Street in the heart of the city. Until then, check out her back catalogue on the streaming channels, go and purchase her physical and digital wares via Bandcamp and wait patiently for the new record to be released.
Words and Pictures by Steve Muscutt
Setlist
Romance is Dead
The Beatniks (Second Rodeo EP)
Limousines (Rituals)
1997 (Second Rodeo EP)
Fun
Anatomy
Confessions of an Ageing Party Girl (Rapture)
Dating a Model
Hey Kidz (Rapture)
Ordinary Life (Rapture)
The Bell (Rapture)
Yesterday's Parties
Part of Me (Rapture)
Graceland (Second Rodeo EP)
