Caro Emerald is on course to score her first number one UK album in the form of ‘The Shocking Miss Emerald’, but whilst some might be scratching their heads as to how she’s set to scoop the prize, it should come as no surprise that she’s set to become the first Dutch singer to taste glory in the UK charts in more than a decade.
The UK is in love with the world of vintage music, something that can be shown not only by the success of Emerald, but by the similar success of Adele, Emeli Sande and the continued singles dominance Daft Punk are having with their disco-tastic ‘Get Lucky’.
When it comes to musical throwbacks, none have been as pure, natural and complete as Emerald. Every single musical inch of her seems as if it’s been pulled through a rip in time from a smoky, art deco bar in Paris filled with femme fatales and private eyes. Mixed with the occasional production flourish that stops them feeling too old, Emerald’s retro charms are very hard to resist.
Let’s not take anything away from Miss Emerald herself, whose voice is that sweet and smooth that it could be sold as a drinking confection without anyone batting an eyelid. With the UK currently a sucker for a girl with a voice we can get lost in, it was only a matter of time until she was set to become a major player in the charts.
The success of her first album was the real shock in the UK though, with ‘From The Cutting Room Floor’ reaching the heady heights of number four in the UK charts back in 2010 before selling a frankly astounding 408,000 copies in Britain to date. The album made her the biggest name in Dutch music, staying at number one in the charts for a simply astonishing 27 weeks in a row, breaking all records in Holland.
Having also been showered with awards both at home and abroad, it would have been easy for the pressure to have gotten to Emerald for this sophomore effort, but lo and behold, this second collection of songs sees he really spread her wings and look even more assured of her sound than ever. From the almost Bond theme sounding ‘I Belong To You’ to the rest of the swoon-inducing numbers on the album, this could become the soundtrack to many people’s summer.
With her star only getting higher in the sky, the only way is up for one of the best talents Amsterdam has produced in quite some time.