- Source: Lilac Everything
Lilac Everything (subtitled A Project By Emma Louise) is the third studio album by Australian recording artist Emma Louise, released on 14 September 2018.
Lilac Everything was written by Emma Louise during a visit to Mexico and recorded at Bear Creek Studio in Seattle with Tobias Jesso Jr. The album marks Jesso's first time working as a producer.
During the final moments of recording, Emma Louise asked Jesso to dramatically pitch all of her vocals down with Emma Louise saying "It was honestly the most relieving decision I've ever made, musically. It just felt so right. I didn't even have to think about it. It made the album swell. It expanded. I think, creatively, I was able to do whatever I wanted."
Emma Louise toured the album across Australia in September 2019.
At the AIR Awards of 2019, the album was nominated for Best Independent Album.
Singles
"Wish You Well" was released as the lead single on 15 June 2018, the same day as the album was announced. The song was described as "dramatic" by Amnplify and "bold" by ABC.
"Mexico" was released on 22 July 2018 as the album's second single. The track shares the same title as the birthplace for the album.
"Falling Apart" was released on 27 August 2018, complete with a live video. Emma Louise said "'Falling Apart' was the last song I wrote for the album. I was having a lot of conflicting feelings and went to a friend's party. I arrived too early and they had a piano. I wrote the song and then left before anyone arrived."
Reception
Keira Leonard from The Music said "The change in pitch on Lilac Everything is so extreme that Emma Louise is unrecognisable from her past works; as we hear a far more androgynous vocal style rather than the feminine, higher pitch we're familiar with." adding "Once you get over the initial confusion of such a drastic change, you're in for one emotionally immersive ride. And immersed you will be, as the hypnotic Louise sings her poignant, universally-felt tales; making it a brave, gripping and influential release."
Shaad D'Souza from Vice Magazine said "Lilac Everything bears no resemblance to vs Head vs Heart or Supercry whatsoever; rather than looking to electronics or alt-pop, Lilac Everything trades in wide, earthy soul and spare, romantic folk music, not entirely dissimilar in colour to Feist's Let It Die... The phrase 'radical departure' is overused and meaningless, so to put it plainly: Lilac Everything sounds nothing like Emma Louise."
Happy Mag called the album "her most spellbinding work to date."
Women in Pop said "The altered vocals bring previously unheard qualities and timbres to Emma Louise's voice, and are in many ways the perfect complement to the threads of melancholy that wind through the album." adding "Lilac Everything isn't your typical pop release, and is miles away from Emma Louise's previous electro-tinged releases, but it is perhaps because of that it is such a special release - pop music as art in the most engaging and moving way possible."