Emily James – Pretty4Ever
New York-based singer-songwriter Emily James is ready for a night out with the girls in this new upbeat anthem, “Pretty 4Ever,” the latest single from her debut album, Summer Nostalgia, releasing on May 29th.
Emily celebrates the joys of female friendship with lyrics that evoke endless summer nights in the city, starting trouble and making memories with the ones who will always have your back.
“I wrote Pretty 4ever to celebrate the deep love and beauty I’ve found in my female friendships,” she reflects. “I find it beautiful how pure platonic love is; a relationship not bound by blood or any written commitment, just a decision to continue being part of each other’s lives. We love and are loved by our friends for no other benefit than that of experiencing life together, and I believe that deserves to be honored as highly as romantic love.”
Instead of harkening back to the glossy, performative “girl power” anthems of the past, “Pretty 4Ever” feels like an evolutionary take, with a more vulnerable, emotion-forward approach to bonds between women. The song reflects a broader theme in Emily’s new album, centered on the feminine experience of growing up – embracing all the messy, carefree, wild nights that seem to last forever. We’re living shamelessly and that’s how it’s supposed to be, she sings confidently at the song’s end.
Emily is also excited to announce the Summer Nostalgia album release show on May 29th at Elsewhere in New York City. Emily will celebrate the release of her debut album by performing new songs alongside fan favorites.
A dreamy twelve-song collection, Summer Nostalgia is Emily James’ most intimate project yet and moves from ruminating slow ballads to euphoric pop jams while telling a story of two people growing up and reconnecting after years of distance. “I want the experience of listening to the album to feel like watching a movie,” Emily adds. “We zoom into these little vignettes, zoom out a little bit to the present day, and then zoom back in. My favorite movies and books are those that play with time and memory, so with this album I really wanted to explore creating an interweaving timeline that flickers between the present and the past.”
As listeners make their way through core memories unlocked, the many stages of love, happiness, grief, and regret, it becomes evident that Summer Nostalgia is more than a narrative about a relationship. The story can be interpreted as a metaphor in which the love interest personifies the protagonist’s hometown and the roots of youth – an exploration of how our beginnings shape us, even when we grow beyond them. Summer Nostalgia provides the universal soundtrack to coming of age in and around the place you used to call home. “It’s a very personal album, not in the sense that everything in there is exactly true,” she says. “But there is truth in the feeling of each of these songs.”
Throughout her career, Emily has found ways to connect to the very essence of what makes us human. Songs like “Brooklyn” and “Cannonball” capture the euphoric feeling of adventure and new love, while “London” and “Song for Bryan” tackle the nuances of heartbreak. In 2024’s double EP, The aLtErNaTeS Part 1 and 2, Emily began exploring the deep complexities of what it means to be in love and the healing journey that comes after loss. Summer Nostalgia feels like a continuation of that growth, catapulting Emily into a world-building artist in her own right. PopDust highlighted how Emily blended “folk-pop sensibilities with cinematic flair,” and in the past year, her music was featured in the Netflix original series Ginny & Georgia and on a slew of North American tours with Midnight Til Morning, Donovan Woods, Amistat, and more.
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