Anne Emberline

Bio

I’m a Vancouver-based singer-songwriter drawing on a diverse mix of influences – from punk bands like Bikini Kill and pop divas like Christina Aguilera to other singer-songwriters like Fiona Apple and Nick Cave.

This fall I’m releasing my debut EP, There’s No Reason. Music and songwriting have always been outlets for processing the more difficult things in my life, and this record came on the heels of a 13-year relationship rapidly and unexpectedly falling to pieces. I wrote hundreds of song ideas to cope, squishing my hurt into stark guitar riffs and belted melodies, and then threw myself into making the record. It took three years.

My voice is really the focus of the record, with its unusually low range and soulful peaks and valleys. People sometimes comment on it like it’s a magical thing I was born with – but really, I was the kid who quit the school choir, convinced that I couldn’t sing. My low range was probably the culprit but I didn’t know that at the time, so I ditched the pop divas I loved growing up and instead found refuge in punk rock, where passion matters more than being “a good singer.” For ten years I wailed on an electric guitar and yelled at the top of my lungs until a perfect mix of factors encouraged me to try singing properly again. I quieted things down and to my surprise, a different voice started to emerge – dark, smoky, and rich. The new softness mixed with the raw wailing of my punk days and a renewed love of pop divas. And somehow I came out the other side of that a soulful singer, despite having never listened to soul. I guess that’s what you get when you mix Bikini Kill with Beyonce, Converge with Christina Aguilera.

Punk also influenced me in other ways, the values inspiring the independent creative life I have now, immersed in both music and visual creativity (art, illustration, graphic design, web development, videography – including all the design and video for There’s No Reason). Even though the things I make now are a lot more professional and the music doesn’t sound like punk or noise anymore, in my heart I’m still that lone wolf punk kid making zines, art, and cassette demos down in her basement.

There’s No Reason comes out October 20, 2015, released independently.