Brother-sister duo Esme Emerson’s third EP, Applesauce is a 13 minute compilation of indie-pop tracks exploring love and shared experience.
I’d been previously unaware of Esme Emerson until their latest release on the 7th of March. My initial impression is positive, with the EP providing the summery feel I’ve been craving since the sun came out and NottsHappening started to expose all the great beer garden spots (can I not just drink a pint of Lazurus in peace?). The duo are signed to Communion Records, putting them amongst the ranks of Catfish and the Bottlemen and Wunderhorse. With the backing of a label like this, the exquisite production comes as no surprise. Before we dive into this, a moment of appreciation please for the album artwork, a beautiful oil painting by the female half of the band, Esme. I wonder what the guy’s called.
There’s a running theme of growth throughout the release as the pair take us through the lessons they’re learning through romance and breakups. Honest vulnerability is displayed from start to finish as the indie-pop duo openly express feelings of love, loss and loneliness. Even at the most musically interesting points, it never feels like they’re doing too much, showing the self-control to leave space where it’s needed.
Too Far Gone, the first track on the EP, is a spacy pop track, opening with a boxy, heavily compressed drum intro. The guitar jangling through the track and rumbling bass are both complemented by synthesisers which pulse through the track. The song tackles the mental process of a breakup with the couple in question splitting up and getting back together repeatedly. Esme speeds through the thoughts that are racing through her mind until reaching the conclusion “if you gotta leave me, if you gotta go, would you just hold me for a little bit”.
The EP slows down for a moment with Together, a ballad about finding comfort in shared experience. Esme sings “I’ve been down, you’ve been down, let’s be down together”. Gentle acoustic strumming sits beneath soft vocals as she declares “I hope I’ll be better this time, I don’t wanna be left behind”, a bridge which builds slowly, until repeating with the welcome addition of a string section. Yard explores coming to terms with the behaviour of yourself and a significant other, through recognising differences and admitting faults. The bridge, like the previous track, is sung by Emerson as he makes the decision to let someone go, so as to not hold them back: “You said you need to go far, so I won’t keep you”.
The final track Stay pleads for a partner to do just that. The glitchy percussion feels perfectly in -place alongside the autotuned vocals. Esme begs “won’t you? Just another minute, I’ll do anything you ask me to”. Textured pads and silky keys provide a beautiful end to a short and sweet EP as, over more strings and synths, she sings “Oh can’t you give another second”, echoing my own thoughts as the final song draws to a close, leaving me wanting more.