This past fall I started a new job. It was my first step up in the TV industry beyond the position of gopher. It was an exciting moment finding out that I was finally getting a shot to have some responsibilities beyond that of grabbing lunch from whichever shitty Thai place had been dubbed the “it” spot of the week. My hours were long before, but it was a different kind of long. It was a grind. Early calls, busy work, and long periods of nothing that would casually be interrupted by paperwork that was so boring I would wish to be shrunken down by a stroke just so I could leave the office.
Now it’s different. It’s high stress, high pressure, and longer days that end not when the work is done but when the boss man decides he is tired enough to go home and just pass out. The problem is, before the work was mind-numbingly boring. I would go home and not think about it. Now I go home feeling terrified. Is someone gonna call? Is everything all set for tomorrow? Am I completely incompetent? My brain can never turn off.
Before it was just dogs barking in my head, now I’ve got real worries. That wears on a man.  My point is when I get home it’s starting to take more and more to zone out. I need the aid not only of alcohol but music.
That’s a tough pill for me to swallow. Usually  I don’t want music bringing me down. I want it boosting me up. I want that party kick to the face, jump up and fight, eardrum-blasting bass, that I know and love. But that’s not what the body’s calling for these days. I need the come down. I need that one last blast…wait, no, that’s not me. That’s from The Wire I think. Sorry. I’ve been watching a lot of The Wire.
This week is the artist I’ve been listening to in those moments of needing a come down. This UK born Aussie lady has a sweet voice and minimal arrangements that make up my current grown man lullabies. It’s like a stripped down Lilly Allen ARTIST OF THE WEEK: Emma Davis. Here is her single Feel A Thing. It makes me want to kick back and relax with some coco. If you have snow where you are, listen to this. It makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside. Here is Feel A Thing.
Tracking down info on this lady has been near impossible, which is an oddity in the age of the Internet. Usually you Google someone and you can find at least some dirt. If you go back far enough with my name you can read an interview I gave the University of Arizona’s student newspaper while drunk outside of my dorm building. Yet Emma Davis is apparently an angel voiced anomaly who has been able to avoid making a digital footprint beyond a few record reviews and a Facebook page. I like that though. She can create these perfect songs in peace. Her only album, a self titled from 2010, is really special. It’s got me all calm and what not, as opposed to my usually rambling self. I only found it recently but I have been enjoying it immensely. This track titled machines is paired with an adorable music vid.
What I really like about this music is it really encapsulates a new feeling that I’ve been getting lately. It’s been dubbed “happy-sad”. It’s pretty 
self-explanatory. It’s something I’d never experienced before but low and behold, over worked and over tired, with cool new stuff happening all around me; a guy who normally gets down to screaming “party till you puke” right along with Andrew WK, is now wrapped in a quilt, attempting to “unwind”. Maybe I’m growing up. More likely I’m turning into a big old softie. Cue up the Emma Davis and fuck the coco. Pour me a scotch. I’m ready to relax.
Big Hugs,
Kelly
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