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Linn Koch-Emmery hits new heights with sky-scraping single "Wires"

20 February 2018, 09:00 | Written by Austin Maloney

If you wanted someone to write sharp, melodic, direct indie-rock last year, Linn Koch-Emmery was a pretty good candidate. The Swedish musician released her debut EP Boys in autumn, with four tracks that nailed the art of no-mess, sweet spot guitar rock.

Now she's back with a new single, "Wires", and it's a move onto another level. This one feels like a bigger, more ambitious step on from the EP, with an expansive guitar sound that gives it a sense of stretching up to new heights.

And comparing to the EP's snappy melodies, "Wires" comes with a massive, waterfall rush of a chorus that hits with enormous emotional power and force. It feels like an evolution; while retaining what made her sound work in the first place, Koch-Emmery has taken her music onto a new plain, and expanded the range of what she can do artistically. "Wires" feels like the sound of her challenging herself, and meeting that challenge with a piece of sky-scraping alt-rock. Listen and check out a Q&A with her below.

So what have you been working on since the Boys EP?

"New songs and recording, and then I've also been on tour for a bit!"

You recently went on your first European tour supporting Johnossi. Does it feel like that’s been a big step for you as a musician?

"Sure it was! It’s developing playing in front of a new kind of audience. Also I learned a lot from just watching John and Ossi play, that's the thing I like about supporting. It's like you're interning in rock’n’roll. I sat a lot in the corner of the stage hidden behind Ossi's drums and watched the shows. I also got to lift up his mic stand whenever it fell haha! Overall it was a really sweet and fun tour."

Tell us about how you wrote "Wires".

"I wrote it in my little studio/rehearsal space on Södermalm in Stockholm where I mostly write all of my songs. Probably late at night at a Tuesday, Monday or something. I’m a night owl and easily distracted so I tend to work quite late when no one else is up. It’s also really nice to walk home at night listening to what you have done, when it’s more quiet outside."

"Wires" feels like a different kind of song to those on the EP, kind of with a bigger, fuller sound to the EP’s more tight, scrappy indie. Would you agree with that? Or what would you say distinguishes it stylistically?

"Yeah, maybe! In its core I feel like it is a quite typical Linn Koch-Emmery song, written in the same setting as I usually do with just me and a guitar. But we did play around with the soundscaping a bit more in the production, it has a lot of melodies and opportunities to do so. I feel like we just tried to pull the saturation button up a bit more to see where it ended up."

Finally, what have you planned for the rest of 2018?

"First of all, finishing the new recordings. I got some fun shows coming up as well, playing Festival Marvin in Mexico City in May and more stuff coming up during the spring!"

"Wires" is out 23 February on Welfare Sounds.
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