TODAY, Indie-folk artist Emma Cookshares “Messed It Up” – the lead single from her forthcoming album, Fight Left In Me. “Messed It Up tells the universal story of how life can constrict and complicate us – it is that yearning for the freedom of childhood,” says Emma. “I have this very clear memory of playing in my best friend’s stream, spending hours with our rubber boots and just being in the moment. It asks the question, “how do I get back” to that kind of simplicity.” Listen here. The single is complemented with a gorgeous new video premiering on Addicted Magazine. Emma teamed up with Andrew Rasmussen (touring keyboardist for the likes of Carly Rae Jepsen, Wake Owl, Twin Bandit, Hannah Georgas, Hey Ocean) to produce the brand new album. Fight Left In Me is due out independently on November 4, 2021.
Although music has always been Emma’s passion, her self-proclaimed restless spirit has taken her down many different paths, from backpacking in South East Asia for a year to white water canoeing down the Nahanni river in the NW Territories. Most recently, Emma and her husband moved with their two young kids from Toronto to Ontario’s cottage country, where they are working on creating an off-grid and net-zero eco resort with tiny cabins in the forest where city folk can unplug in nature. They recently launched the first cabin (check it out here) and Emma wants to give back to the music community so she’ll be running a contest for musicians to win a one-night stay in the cabin this Fall. Follow www.instagram.com/foretcabins for all the details.
For the stunning new video, Emma worked with directors Tatjana Green (Brought To You By) and Matthew Barnett. “Tatjana and Matt came to me with some visual concepts, and I was immediately drawn to the idea of a strong colour pop against a dramatic but muted landscape,”says Emma. The directors share, “We wanted to show a juxtaposition between formality and freedom. The formality being represented by the ornate wardrobe and highly controlled camera moves, and freedom being represented by flowing movements and a discarding of ornamentation. We wanted to create a feeling of being hemmed in by the person you have become, then throwing off that cloak to rediscover the person you were (and perhaps long to be again).”
Emma adds, “It was in the costume brilliantly designed by Alexandra Boultzi that we were able to play with the idea of freedom from the confines/heaviness that can build up as we move through life, which is really what this song is about. “How do I get back” is the question I keep asking, trying to find a window back to that childlike freedom. As the song progresses, I am removing layers of this complicated costume, slowly finding my way to simply freeform dancing in the wind. Although not totally intentional at the beginning, the costume really started taking shape with birdlike elements, and then on the day of the shoot we were lucky enough to have seagulls and a beautiful blue heron asking to be included – it was really so perfect, as there is nothing that seems freer than a bird.”
