Former Lush guitarist/vocalist Emma Anderson has announced her debut solo album, Pearlies, which will be out October 20 via Sonic Cathedral. The album was written by Anderson and produced by Maps‘ James Chapman, with guitar contributions from Suede‘s Richard Oakes.
Seeds of this album date back to Lush’s mid-’00s reunion which came to an end sooner than some expected. “I thought we were in it for the long term, so some of these songs – or even just parts of them – were actually going to be for Lush,” says Anderson. “That didn’t happen, so I had these songs and bits of music that I didn’t know what to do with.” She thought about starting a new band with someone else as vocalist but was urged by onetime Cocteau Twins guitarist Robin Guthrie, who produced some of Lush’s recordings, to sing her own songs.
Guthrie was originally going to produce but when Covid hit things were put on hold and Sonic Cathedral suggested Chapman. “He turned out to be exactly the right person,” says Emma. “People tend to view James as primarily an electronic producer but he has a lot more strings to his bow. He has a wide range of tastes and also an encyclopedic knowledge of music which meant he was able to bring a huge amount to the album. He really got it.”
The first single from Pearlies is “Bend the Round,” a terrific songs with a cinematic, baroque-psych vibe and features Oakes on guitar. “I didn’t know Richard back in the ’90s, but it turned that he was a bit of a Lush fan,” Emma says. “I have a part-time day job as a bookkeeper, and I do bits of work for the Suede camp. I got to know him through that and we became friends. I asked if he would play some guitar on the record and, to my delight, he said yes!”
You can watch the “Bend the Round” video below.
Pearlies:
1. I Was Miles Away
2. Bend The Round
3. Inter Light
4. Taste The Air
5. Xanthe
6. The Presence
7. Willow And Mallow
8. Tonight Is Mine
9. For A Moment
10. Clusters