Emily Wolfe

Outlier

(Crows Feet)

7/10

By Decibel Report

With her signature Epiphone Sheraton Stealth guitar, Texan Emily Wolfe is playing up to her promise as a six-string songwriting artist of considerable promise on this coming of age follow up to her self-titled debut album. Incorporating a quirky pop sensibility with sharp musical contrasts right down to its rock core, there are plenty of catchy melodies to hook on to for a most enjoyable ride. The charming contrasts are evident from the start as the hooky second song Cover Of Virtue delightfully proves to be poles apart from the experimental synth throb of opener No Man.

There’s also a vibrant cache of aspirational hit singles smattered across these ten tracks. A prime example is the uplifting vibes on Something Better that find Wolfe’s light vocal range translating layers of melody. Accompanied by her fuzzy guitar twang she confidently reveals a compositional blueprint here to widen her appeal. Another case in point is the groovy glam-rock fuzzy stomp bouncing all over Damage Control mirroring a fun party atmosphere. As though reflected through the prism of a seventies disco ball, Wolfe lets loose with abandon on this retro-feel track by riffing up and down the neck of her signature guitar. Death Row Kiss offers up more guitar and synth virtuosity to reinforce the edginess of this quite impressive recording. As though swaddled in audio cotton wool, the featherlight feel of vocal and reverb guitar swoon all around Heavenly Hell to close out a confident and not very difficult second album.