Hailing from Upstate New York, Stella Emmett (née Kortchmar) makes a distinctively summery brand of pop, warm and bright and languid, distorted just so by a liquid heat haze. The sound is a collaborative endeavour. Kortchmar and co-producer Mike Dvorscak form the production duo ‘beachball’, and Stella Emmett’s forthcoming album Admirer is the first fully-realised album to stem from the project.
Described by Kortchmar herself as ‘IkeaCore’, the record is a smooth companion for long, lazy afternoons, palatable pop that will not take over your attention but rather accentuate your daydreams. “This wasn’t necessarily my intention, but listening back to Admirer now, I feel like I made it to serve as a daily life soundtrack for people,” Kortchmar explains. “I wanted to create an album that was at once deeply personal and about my actual life but also a sort of sound palette people could put on at parties, or listen to on the train, or listen to while cooking dinner or even while shopping at IKEA. “It’s an easy listening album that comes from moments in my life that weren’t always easy.”
We’re delighted to be able to share a brand new single, ‘DayDream’. Rising from a sluggish beat, the track is appropriately ethereal, its translucent texture (formed in part by guest Evan Marré of Russel the Leaf) lending its movements a majestic air. Still, despite the foggy style and languid tempo, there’s a clear-sighted edge to the track, Kortchmar’s vocals holding an assertive edge that eventually rises into an affirming chorus. Agency, it seems, can be snatched from the dreamiest of places.
“’DayDream’ is probably my favorite song off of the album,” Kortchmar reveals. “I’ve relied heavily on fantasies to cope with stress since I can remember, and there comes a point where that isn’t as harmless a coping mechanism as you might think, because it interferes with your waking life. This song is about coming to terms with that.”
Admirer is out on the 23rd August and you can pre-order it now from the Stella Emmett Bandcamp page.
Photos by Emily Greco and Joseph Charles Viola, cover art photo by Lucie Murphy