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Tom Emlyn
Being so imaginatively driven, it is no surprise that Tom has quickly amassed an impressive oeuvre of work to his name. What is worth noting is its consistent quality across a range of eclectic experiments, from fuzzy beats to heart stoppingly beautiful acoustic ballads, encompassing a swirling mix of psychedelia, indie, and folk-tinged lyricism. He then effortlessly weaves in webs of bewitching words, often inspired by the post-industrial ghosts of the beaches and desolate suburbs of Swansea. Fortunately, after this build up, ‘Rehearsal For The Rain’ does not disappoint. Gathering up lost fragments from years of songwriting and music making, the album (his fourth in two years) is a dreamlike, lo-fi psychedelic bedroom pop journey around our corner of Wales, with added elements of prog, blues, psychedelia, indie and alternative folk. As you’d expect, the songs are vibrant – powerful poetic lyrics, striking arrangements (including some anarchic flute playing barely heard since the days of Jethro Tull), tight harmonies and snaring hooky choruses, which will subversively take up squatters’ residence initially your brain, and then your heart.
To quote myself, Tom Emlyn is a fascinating, captivating, absorbing writer and performer, whose songs grab you by the ears and by the brain, alluring you down caverns of time and place. He digs beneath the surface mundanities of everyday life, particularly those of Swansea life, below the decaying bricks and mortar and paving stones, to encounter the ghosts haunting below. I defy anyone to listen to title track ‘Rehearsal for the Rain’ and not to feel a pang of dripping love for our dirty old lovely ugly town. In all he does, Tom is Creative, original, thoughtful and magical in his use of words and music. Tom is someone whose powerful gentleness promotes love of diversity inclusion and equality, and someone your ears deserve to experience. Rosey R*E*P*E*A*T https://linktr.ee/tomemlyn
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