Concert Review: EMIA Is The Essence of Pop At Knitting Factory

Tarots, jewelry-making, and raffles were abound at EMIA’s Debut Ep Release show for Little Secret. It felt like a mini-fest of the unabashed “girliness” of pop. I am talking the days when Spice Girl posters, barbie dolls, and lollipops splashed across your room. When Jojo’s “A Little Too Late,” of which she covered, blasted from your first iPod as you checked whether your Tamagachi was still alive. THOSE WERE THE DAYS! At Knitting Factory, it was hard to not long for 90’s pop and its celebration of “girliness” after listening to EMIA’s summoning of it. 

We live in a world divided between the growing discovery and celebration of femininity, and those that still say, “You are being a girl” when they think someone is being weak. Yet, as EMIA played her debuting tracks such as “Psychic” and “Hologram,” you saw that being a “girl” is fun and empowering. Yet, “empowering” is not simply about feeling good as much as knowing that you should and could feel better. It is about testifying to the insecurities you have so that, in doing so, you gain a strength. For EMIA, acknowledging the ghosts of lame exes and lamed dreams was bubbly and cathartic. She is INCREDIBLY SWEET; jumping and buzzing through the stage like a popped cork to her champagne synths. Her infectious joy, obviously, won the audience by making happiness feel welcomingly “cheesy.”

ÊMIA – If You Can’t Take The Rain (Official Video)

Like “girly,” “cheesy” gets a bad wrap; as if euphoria is something too silly to achieve. From “All I Do” and “If You Can’t Take The Rain,” EMIA observes why we deny ourselves joy while claiming it is what we want. Everyone wishes they could get “better,” but, when the opportunity pops up, we make it seem beneath us. NO MORE! EMIA’s Little Secret felt like a festival for a young woman determined to give in to life, love, and laughter. Her pop songs were like blissful Hallmark cards telling young ladies to be okay enough to get better, which, gain, is so 90’s pop. In addition, vocally, EMIA has range and control; tossing her chords like whips hitting canned notes. The result was a show that made you hope the world sees her for the diamond she is. For More Information On EMIA Click Here. 

ÊMIA – All I Do ( Filmed at YouTube Space NYC)