It is always a gamble to post content onto social media, but for Emma Harner, the odds were in her favor. Her videos went viral, as fans were captivated by her virtuosic guitar skills. They also could not get enough of the emotion she conveyed in her songs. Her ability to be technical yet vulnerable came through in her debut EP, Taking My Side, which was released in July. She received much praise for the project, with the likes of Zane Lowe and Rick Beato recognizing her moving songwriting. Guitar.com also described Emma as “not only a compelling songwriter but one of America’s most impressive new guitarists.” As we head into the fall, Emma continues to cement herself as an artist to watch with the haunting “The Lake.”
Produced by Doug Schadt (Maggie Rogers, Claud, Ashe), “The Lake” gets into the ache and grief that comes from a fleeting relationship. It contains enchanting, acoustic guitar-driven lines that make the track gentle yet ominous. All the while, Emma trades lyrics with Vermont singer-songwriter Henry Jamison, who has worked with artists like Maisie Peters, JOSEPH, and Fenne Lily. Together, they give us fragments of this situation, singing, “I’ve been thinking ahead / Why don’t we call it what it is / You’ve been leaving for dead / All of your promises.” Emma’s inspiration for the track comes from a lake near her hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska. She shares, “Some of my best memories took place there, so it felt like the right setting for this song.”
Elaborating on how the collab came together, Henry shares,
“I was a fan of Emma’s and had heard the first verse and chorus of ‘The Lake’ in one of her videos, long before she wrote to me and asked if I would sing on it. She was working with my buddy Doug, who produced a lot of my third record, and they had made the song into this towering, incredibly moody thing. I wrote my verse inspired by that atmosphere and tracked it with them in Brooklyn. Emma is a generational talent, and I feel very lucky to work with her.”
In the fall, Emma will head out on her first US and EU headline tour. She will start out in Los Angeles on November 8 and make her way to Brooklyn on November 10. After that, she heads across the pond to perform a string of shows in the UK before wrapping up in Berlin on November 23. Tickets and the full list of dates can be found here.
You can listen to “The Lake” here.
Keep up with Emma Harner: Instagram // TikTok // YouTube // Website // Linktree
