Keep surprising the listener
Dutch composer Stephen Emmer launched his latest album, International Blue, on July 7. With this album, on which he collaborated with Midge Ure and Glenn Gregory, among others, he aims to continue surprising the listener. “I want people to still discover new things in a song after listening to it for the sixth time.”
Jack-of-all-trades
Stephen Emmer, the jack-of-all-trades son of former news anchor Fred Emmer, played in various bands in Amsterdam during his teenage years. Singer Mathilde Santing was in one of them. In the late 70s, he was a permanent member of the band Minny Pops, but in the early 80s, he took a completely different path. In 1980, he co-founded and became editor-in-chief of the music magazine Vinyl. He also became a presenter for the VPRO radio program Radionome.
After two years, he realised that music journalism was not his world and focused on composing again. This resulted in his first album, Vogue Estate, in 1982. In the years that followed, he composed more and more music for TV series, documentaries, and broadcasters. Until, nearly 10 years ago, he decided to make independent music again. This resulted in the album Recitement in 2007. Now, seven years later, the third album, International Blue, is on the shelves.
International
The title reveals the international character of the album. By his own account, it was a project that came about in a strange way. “The internet. Everyone has become Google-able, so I tried to contact the artists via email and Facebook whose voices I felt suited my music,” says Emmer.
That worked out, but from that moment on, the collaboration still had to start. “I sent them the music along with a vocal line. They were completely free to fill in the lyrics, because I think you have to give someone freedom to believe what they are singing. It was immediately clear to me that the person writing the lyrics has complete freedom in doing so.”
Untouchable
One of the artists Emmer collaborated with resulted in a special bond. Glenn Gregory co-wrote the song Untouchable. It is an ode to the late Billy Mackenzie, former singer of The Associates and a mutual friend who committed suicide in 1997. “It wasn’t planned to write a song about Billy. The song stirred an emotion in me, allowing me to write about him. Additionally, I knew that Stephen knew Billy, and that’s how it all came together,” said Gregory.
[Willem Jongeneelen - 16-07-2014]