A friend of mine recommended I check out Emilie & Ogden after they saw the young harpist in support of Half Moon Run.
When I listened to the current single, “10 000” a few times over, I kept seeing this scene of an imaginary movie replaying in my mind. It was as if I had been given a book, and when I opened it this song started playing. As I paged further into the book there were all these little fold outs and pop ups and little graceful details of color and illustration and glitter. All pieces of it were so delicate and precisely planned out, creating this enchanting, pocket-sized universe.
As a child, Emilie was given a hand-me-down flute, which she studied, unattached, until college. She sang in a number of hobby bands that never lasted long, but it was with these bands that she came to enjoy performing. She fell in love with the harp while watching the incredible harpist Sarah Pag performing with her school’s choir. Entirely entranced, she found a Craigslist teacher the next day, and shortly after accepted Ogden, her majestic, 38-string harp, as a part of her life.
The dedicated harpist and songwriter, Emilie, has worked with her producer and skilled arranger of whimsy, Jesse Mac Cormack, since her professional start in her late teens. He collabed with her on her first EP, self-titled, and they continued together with her most recent release, an LP titled, that was out in late 2015.
The tracks on this album are all-encompassing, but entirely unique at the same time. In the song “What Happened,” we hear Emilie begin with melodies reminiscent of a lullaby, just her and Ogden, but in the chorus the piano and drum accompaniment compliments what she’s already laid out creating a sway-inducing sound, for me anyway. The steady kick drum in the chorus of “Babel” gives it a bit of edge without overpowering the intentional daintiness of the song.
Her music has taken the Montreal based artist across the globe to Europe, mostly the UK, opening for Half Moon Run, Patrick Watson, Ibeyi, Tigran, Les Soeurs Boulay, Folly & The Hunter, The Franklin Electric, just to mention a few. She’s headed back in early March for some of her first headline shows in the UK; you can catch Emilie & Ogden in Leeds, Manchester, London, and Bristol!
(Editor’s note: This piece was originally written for The Indie Daydreamer)
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