Emery.

BY KELDA MANLEY.

 

‘The British have different accents’ grins Emery frontman Toby Morrell. The American five piece are in the UK for the very first time in their career taking part in the Give it a Name Incoming tour.

Joining Enter Shikari, The Blackout and The Academy is the band have been thrilled with the reaction they’ve received.  ‘[It’s] really cool to leave your country, come to another country and people are singing along to your songs’ muses Toby. ‘They seem to be doing that with all the bands so everybody feels the same way. Everyone has been really nice on the tour.’

While it may be Emery’s first time in the UK they have been steadily building a solid fanbase. ‘We get MySpace comments or emails and stuff from people [and] it’s really cool’ smiles Toby. ‘All the kids [are] really excited about your music. It’s awesome.’

 

 

Later this year they will be releasing their fourth studio album, something they are clearly proud of. ‘I think the new album [‘In Shallow Seas We Sail’] is a cross between everything but I think it’s pretty heavy,’ explains Toby ‘[there’s] a lot of screaming on this album. I and Devon do a lot more screaming. Our last album was heavy on a epic side [but] this is back to basics. Anyone who is an Emery fan will think this is maybe one of our best records.’ Drummer Dave Powell nods agreement with his bandmate, ‘it has a little bit of everything you want if you’re an Emery fan. It felt that when we were writing it, everything we do best as a band is on this record.’

In 2007 Emery released a more experimental album, working on a more synth sound with less screaming vocals. It was a change that was met with negative reviews from the media. It’s something which is a touchy subject for frontman Toby, ‘it’s just too easy to hide behind a name on a website or an e-mail address’ he explains. ‘It really bums me out when I see people reviewing our record and they didn’t even buy it. [A] lot of the time I feel critics are so quick to say something negative but what really sucks is the only reason they have a job at all is because of the bands in the first place. Like, whatever record we write helps them have the job they want to do so it’s kinda rubbish.’

Of course, he’s not suggesting that all journalists must love his band. ‘I like it if someone is really honest,’ he continues ‘of course there are going to be millions of people who don’t like Emery. That should be the way it is. It doesn’t make sense that everyone would like our band because there are so many bands that I don’t like. I think our band just gets tired of people’s ignorance [and] silliness.’

However, judging by the reaction so far it seems the band have nothing to worry about this time around. ‘We put up a song on MySpace and ITunes and a lot of people bought it’ grins Toby. ‘Everything has been good. There hasn’t been anything negative at all. It’s refreshing and nice. Everybody’s just into it.’

The band have a busy year following the release of ‘In Shallow Seas We Sail’ with extensive touring of the US as well as two new additions to the Emery families.  ‘Dave and I are going to have babies. We just found out’ smiles the frontman ‘His [Dave’s] is coming September 20th and mine is October 11th so we might be taking off at the end of the year to spend time with the kids.’

The band are also hoping to return to the UK in the near future bringing their raucous and sometimes painful shows to their fans. ‘[Our live show is like] Terminator II’ laughs Dave. ‘We take some hits’ continues Toby ‘but we keep coming back. We won’t stop until the very end.’

In Shallows Sales We Sail is released June 2nd in the US. UK release dates are currently being arranged.

___________________________________________________________________