Virtue (Emmy the Great album)

Virtue is the second album by London singer-songwriter Emma-Lee Moss–better known by the stage name Emmy the Great—and was released on 13 June 2011.[1] It has been described as "meticulous and atmospheric" and has been praised for its poetic writing style.[2]

Virtue
Studio album by
Emmy the Great
Released13 June 2011[1]
Recorded2010–2011
GenreAlternative rock, anti-folk
LabelClose Harbour Records
ProducerGareth Jones
Emmy the Great chronology
First Love
(2009)		 Virtue
(2011)

Background

The album mixes themes from myths, fairy tales and saints' lives. Moss initially wanted the album to tell a story entirely from the point of view of various "characters", both fictional and historical, however, while writing the album, Moss’ fiancé converted to Christianity and their relationship came to an end. As a result of this, Virtue would become, much like First Love, a very personal album. Moss explains that she "had this really weird period where I was supposed to be getting married... I was actually reading lots about theology because I didn’t understand what had happened."[3] The album was recorded shortly after the summer in which her wedding was cancelled, with Gareth Jones (notable for working with Depeche Mode, Einstürzende Neubauten, Wire and Erasure) given the job to produce the album.[4]

The release of her début album First Love was delayed due to a lack of confidence and Moss' disillusion and frustration with record labels and managers who wished to alter her song writing.[5] As a result, to fund and release her second album, Emmy the Great partnered with Pledgemusic, an online Direct-to-Fan / Fan-funded music platform utilising a Threshold Pledge System / Provision Point Mechanism that facilitates musicians reaching out to their fan-base to financially contribute to upcoming recordings or other musical projects. Moss commented that, "instead of relying entirely on a label to make and tour our record, we can skip the middleman and go directly to you, the fans for support. It makes sense for us, because we’ve always tried to work outside of the traditional record label model.[6]

On 18 April 2011, RCRD LBL released a free download of the track "A Woman, A Woman, A Century of Sleep", while on 29 April 2011, the album's lead single, "Iris" was released.[7]

Critical response
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Drowned in Sound link
All Music link
Hi-Fi News(9.4/10)[8]
Financial Times[8]
The Fly[8]
Manchester Evening News[8]
MOJO[8]
musicOMH[8]
NME link
The Daily Telegraph[8]
The Times[8]
Uncut[8]
Pitchfork Media6.3/10[9]

The album met with generally positive reviews upon release. The BBC gave a favourable review, commenting that, "Resigned but never accusatory, it makes for poignant reassurance that sometimes feeling utterly bewildered and lost is not only natural, but a strange and unmistakeable cause for optimism." The Guardian claimed Moss to be, "One of the boldest young writers in pop today." while the Evening Standard insisted that Virtue is "What folk music has been praying for."[8]

The album entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 84.

Track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Dinosaur Sex"5:37
2."A Woman, A Woman, A Century of Sleep"4:08
3."Iris"3:39
4."Paper Forest (In the Afterglow of Rapture)"3:41
5."Cassandra"3:33
6."Creation"5:10
7."Sylvia"4:32
8."Exit Night / Juliet's Theme"6:08
9."North"4:40
10."Trellick Tower"4:11
Japan bonus tracks[10]
No.TitleLength
11."God of Loneliness" 
12."Paper Forest" 
13."Emily" 
14."Lost in Austin (Acoustic)" 
15."One Person Playing Two Roles" 

Charts

Chart positions
Chart (2011) Peak
position
UK Albums Chart[11] 84
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gollark: Wrong. You are wrong.
gollark: Wrong.
gollark: Well, this is probably down to the fact that deployment of new mobile network technology is quite slow, but also LTE is generally better than predecessors.
gollark: Observe this handy graph.

References
  1. "Emmy The Great to release second album 'Virtue' in June". Nme.com. 11 April 2011. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  2. DeSantis, Harrison. "Emmy the Great – Virtue". Culture Technology Review. The Culture & Technology Review Online. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
  3. "Review: Emmy The Great, "Virtue"". Timberandsteel.wordpress.com. 16 September 2011. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  4. "Emmy the Great Bio". Emmythegreat.com. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  5. Emmy the Great’s Paper Forest
  6. "Emmy The Great: New album". Pledgemusic.com. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  7. RCRD LBL EMMY THE GREAT
  8. "We got some reviews!". Emmythegreat.com. 13 June 2011. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  9. Ashurst, Hari (11 July 2011). "Emmy the Great: Virtue". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  10. ヴァーチュー: エミー・ザ・グレイト (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
  11. "Official Charts". Official Charts. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
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