Release Date: August 14, 2020
Genre: Classical, Soft Pop, Folk
Label: Independent
Emmie Dohse is a singer-songwriter based out of Washington, D.C. has released her debut EP, Free Time, this past summer. Dohse’s EP unites various genres such as classical, soft pop, folk, and Americana into one collection of songs. Dohse brings a unique aspect to the genres with her unusual chord progressions and genuine, honest songs from the heart -both lyrically and musically. Dohse grew up classically trained in piano learning and performing Beethoven, Bach, and Debussy, and shortly after started writing musical pieces of her own. Eventually, Dohse got over her bigger musical fear and began to write her own lyrics and provide her voice on top of her music. Dohse’s soprano voice and musical characteristics are often compared to fellow singer-songwriters such as Allison Krauss and Sara Bareilles.
Emmie is just beginning to pave herself a promising path with her music, and with a magnificent EP of five astonishing songs to start it off right. She incorporates a plethora of topics that are close to her in the lyrical songwriting on her first five tracks out to the world. Dohse’s introductory EP opens with the opening number, “The House on the Corner.” A track about an imagined story she wrote after seeing an abandoned house along the road one time in the past. Her classical music background shines bright in the opening track with its detailed folk stylings that round the track out splendidly.
The second track on Free Time is the piano ballad, “Last I Heard,” which features the warm, soulful voice of Manny Davis. “Last I Heard” captures the sheer emotion of both Emmie and Manny in every way. While the track is simple to the core, it stands out as one of the EP’s highlights with its genuine and profound emotion that any listener will feel as it’s their own. “Last I Heard,” tells a tale of looking up somebody on social media, that you knew in high school. These two people are either reconnecting or wishing to reconnect after so many years apart from each other. The EP’s third track, “I Never Go Out” tackles the subject of a horrible first impression at a bar that pulls out Emmie’s folk influence with just a ukulele and her voice in a soft and sincere “feelings spilled on the floor” type of vibe on the song.
“My best friend introduced me to a close friend of hers one night when we were out for drinks. I’ve never been so repulsed by someone I just met, so fast,” recalls Dohse. “It was one of those encounters you keep thinking to yourself, ‘Did this guy really just say that?'”
The fourth track on Free Time is “Milk and Honey.” It’s a straightforward traditional folk track musically. However, lyrically “Milk and Honey” is where the song shines like the brightest star in the night sky. Emmie is a self-described history nerd and wrote the track from somebody’s perspective while in the 1930s Dust Bowl and tackles the inner struggle this person is going through of losing everything they had and having some strife with their core beliefs. The hook, “Father, father, why have you forsaken me,” was the first thing Emmie came up with for the song while she was messing around writing on her guitar. Closing out the EP is the piano ballad, “Fortress.” The fifth and final track is another from the heart, that’s incredibly honest. It tackles a friendship of Emmie’s, that did not reciprocate the same back to her.
“It’s important to me in any relationship that there’s give and take. [Fortress] was written after a friendship turned out not to be as strong as I thought it was. There’s nothing more frustrating than putting more into a connection than you’re getting,” states Dohse.
Dohse’s Free Time has a little bit for everyone in its respective genres. If you’re looking for something similar to Adele’s “Someone Like You, turn to “Fortress.” Whereas “I Never Go Out” could very well be viewed as something similar to Ingrid Michaelson’s “You and I.” Finally, if you were to listen to both the tracks “The House on the Corner” and “Milk and Honey,” they’ll get you close to something from Allison Krauss or Margo Price.
This is just the start of a blossoming career for Emmie. I will be patiently waiting to see what Emmie has to offer up in the future. Please stay in touch with her by visiting her Instagram in the links provided below and make sure to stream and purchase her debut EP Free Time, which is out now on all major music streaming services.
Check out more from Emmie Dohse:
