Danny Krivit
Great new artists… today… eh… not so easy to come by… people who not only have great music, but also add something to it with their presence… people your actually driven to follow… because you know more great things are coming… Emilie Nana seems very passionate about her music & very much about what’s right & wrong in the world… a face and a mind to the music… and a lot of heart too… someone I can’t wait to hear what’s next from… underground… poignant… cutting edge… I’m a follower :)
Favorite track: Inward Path.
The Meeting Legacy – The Artistic Face of Emilie Nana.
The Geneva based, Lyon born, Cameroonian descendant has immersed in this creative outpouring since 2012, the album slices together an eclectic selection, sharing much of who she is.
Comprising of 11 tracks, including, Like You, which was released on Compost Black at the beginning of 2013; at that stage her second release, and one of five EP’s Emilie Nana has shared with the world. I’m Childish, So What! also features, having first caught the attention of the music community in July 2015. This gem inspired by Emilie Nana’s nephew, is based on the idea, that even as we grow up, we should still be who we are at any matter of time. It is the only track on the album carrying a French vocal, and enjoys a moody, loopy, no rules feel; and is an absolute imaginative jewel. Recently three tracks featuring on this album encompassed a remix release package, namely, Tolstoy’ Changes, Music and The Meeting Legacy, remixed by Manoo, Beanfield & Thomas Herb.
The Meeting Legacy, the album title track is activism through music. Lyrically it draws from Elaine Brown, an American activist and artist who held the position of chairperson of the Black Panther Party. The bass on this slow stalking symbol of struggle is Nana-esque and the vocals come through with ease, poignantly positioning this track as the rebuilding of what feels like a “two-part” album.
Continually drawing on fiction and non-fiction, embodying the lived and informed experience of Emilie Nana, Black Like Me further enthuses this. A warm melodic creation, with the simplest of lyrics and marimbas bobbling in the background. Musically it is an interpretation of John Howard Griffin’s book, Black Like Me. Here he tells the story of a white journalist who undergoes skin darkening, to engage with black life in the segregated south of the United States of America. Emilie’s musical interpretation captures and embodies the colourful cultural expressions the white journalist encounters as he interacts with the black lived experience.
Track 5 on the album, the unofficial “last track in ‘part 1’ ”, is, Confessions Of No Language. Soaking up her innermost experiences, Emilie Nana heads into the hedopelagic expecting to exude her delicate happenings to the listener. What you’ll hear are semi-audible sounds, which significantly signals her soul to the audience. But being overwhelmed by the depth of these lurking days gone by, no real words are mustered, making for a uniquely authentic and direct approach to the interpretation of her being.
The Meeting Legacy album, commencing with Off The Street, crashes through the implications of a party-girls night out; then through the early 90s Janet Jackson & Prince influenced, Music, where we experience Emilie Nana in a warm and playful way. Finally, we discover her, Inward Path, when she suitably sums up that there is more happiness than sadness, because hope exists inside of us.
This body of work enjoys the outpourings of Nana’s delicate yet vibrant being, striving successfully to separate from the rules that often limits art. Reimagining her life, she walks us skilfully through the eyes of a child, teenage outpourings, adolescent adorations and the mature conversations comprising subculture, struggle and diverse social influences. Having spent four years producing this prized work, Emilie Nana delivers an album that matches her unique playful yet mature spirit, summing up her soul in, The Meeting Legacy.
Terry Venemous is releasing new music every 3 weeks this year. His latest EP is sumptuous art pop with a wry sense of detachment.
Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 27, 2024
supported by 5 fans who also own “The Meeting Legacy”
Combining 60-esque spiritual soundscapes with African rhythms and vocals is genius. Reminds me of Pharoah Sanders or Sun Ra when they were at their best. Great record, will be spinning over and over again. Torsten