THE LINEUP
A monthly look at must-hear artists from all corners of the guitar world, from the roots of their sound to the tracks that matter most
Artist: Emma Tricca
Album: Aspirin Sun (Bella Union)
Rome-raised and London-based Emma Tricca is something of an adventurer, both in life and her art. Her music is rich and textured, and unafraid to challenge standard tropes, while remaining solidly in that singer-songwriter bracket. It feels like she could have applied her colourful approach to any art form.“I don’t think I chose music, I think it chose me,”she begins.“I was on tour with Robyn Hitchcock and he asked me how I got into music, and fingerpicking specifically, and I remember talking about a magazine I saw when I was five years old with Joan Baez and Bob Dylan on the cover. I remember thinking that this was what I was going to do.”
Emma’s newest album, Aspirin Sun, isher boldest and most personal work yet, a rich and engulfing record of many layers, that is careful to sound uncluttered. “We wanted to make something that was atmospheric and not mimicking anything else,” she explains.“We also wanted to do something simpler, but Steve [Shelley’s, drummer] playing is multi-layered, and when Jason [Victor, guitars] comes in he sprinkles on the magic, as does Pete [Galub, bass]. But, really, this record is about coming out of grief [Emma’s father died shortly after the release of her previous album, St Peter, in 2018], so I went over to New York because I wanted to start working on these feelings.”
The Aspirin Sun sessions in New York ended just as Covid hit, meaning a shift in lifestyle for Emma and more time to hone the 10 tracks she brought back to London.“I was sitting at home with these pockets of time where I could go to the studio to start working on bouncing ideas off of the guys,” she says. It was a transatlantic process, with Jason writing brass parts on synths from New York and [keyboardist] Sean Read playing them in London. “I sing well with Sean,” Emma says,“so we also recorded harmonies together and it was fun. But, really, it was all part of coming back out again.”
Emma’s creative process can be chaotic, she admits, and is often fed by travel and locations.“Movement certainly does it for me,” she nods.“Minor White[Emma’s debut album] was completely written between airports. I’m scatty, I keep notes but not a di
