Emily Harder: Melodic Twists & Turns

Another very successful youtube artist, whose simplicity and raw talent brought her millions of hits through her covers, originals and other videos. I only came across her a couple days ago when looking up covers of the Lumineers' catchy track "Ho Hey". I must admit I was a little confused by her opening remarks but the cover itself is beautiful. It's simple, straightforward and stripped down to her smooth voice and scratchy guitar. The simplicity of the song itself makes it so loveable. But, unlike the original, Emily's vocals have a lot of flow and she makes it her own. During the chorus, Emily strums the guitar so rhythmically and intensely that it almost becomes a drum. Near the end of the song Emily lets the song grow vocally and brings it to a sudden end that shows the fantastic amount of control she has over the track. Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4PUG3iG_zg

It's a great cover but my question remains with her opening remarks. The words "I'm really stoked this song is really popular now because I get to cover it." struck a certain chord in me. The question "If the song wasn't popular, you wouldn't cover it then?" is what I would like to ask Emily but I haven't had the opportunity to do that. It seems, to me at least, that popularity doesn't equal good music and unfortunately, good music does not equal popularity these days, although it should. In any case, I hope that Emily would cover anything she feels is good, not anything that is popular.

Now, the next cover of hers that caught my attention was of Phillip Phillips' "Home". Phillip Phillips is of course the winner of last year's American Idol competition. It's quite rare that I'll agree with the winner of the competition but I have to admit that I think the U.S.A. made the right decision with Mr. Phillips. He sings from his heart and sounds like a U.S. version of Mumford & Sons, particularly with the track "Home". You may be able to hear what I mean, even more so with Emily's melodically inclined version. I truly love the way she takes on the song and makes it her own. I feel that she loses herself in the song, more than she did with "Ho Hey" (The Lumineers), but that's purely my speculation. While in "Ho Hey" your eye may drift to her beautiful long hair, the beautiful guitar and what's going on in the background, in "Home" I guarantee that you'll find yourself concentrating on the core of Emily's stunning performance! Have a listen and lose yourself!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNhIdHvZHhw

What a great cover. Phillip Phillips isn't quite as popular in Europe, but I sure hope people here begin to discover his raw talent, as well as Emily Harder's raw talent. And once again, my favourite original is an acoustic of Emily's called "Do You Believe"! For those who don't know what I'm talking about, I'm generally inclined to like acoustic, stripped down performances more than fully fledged tracks. The melodic turns Emily takes in her song will leave you with goosebumps and thirsty for more. I would love to catch an unplugged performance of hers, if I'm ever fortunate enough. For now, I'll keep listening to this video. Time for you to check it out too, subscribe to her youtube channel and check her out on Facebook. Check back tomorrow for another fantastic artist!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ttv8Z8iwRf0

Alex Hamel