Something Beautiful: Track by Track

1. Memories on My Mind

I think watching so much Sex and the City has convinced me that we all have that one person who has some kind of effect on us that no one else ever could. Whether that’s true for everyone, I don’t know. But it’s definitely true for me, unfortunately. This song is about that feeling, that feeling that only that one person can give you, no matter how long it’s been since you talked. The beautiful thing: this was the song I got to play live all summer while I was recording the album.

2. Free

This song actually wasn’t about a concrete situation. It was just a feeling I’d been wrestling without reason. When that happens, I like to see if I can write a song to sort everything out; that certainly worked out in my favour this time around. As I was writing this song, I’d periodically stop and question how it was coming out of my own brain. Every time I listen to it or play it now, I feel almost giddy because of how passionate and pretty it is. The beautiful thing: this song was what motivated me to really get serious about this album.

3. Drinkin’ You Away

One of the least literal songs on the album, without a doubt. I was inspired by a conflict with someone I had a complicated relationship with, and I used the opportunity to test my country song writing skills. I wrote this in 2015 when Merle was still alive and well, so now that lyric about him means even more to me. The beautiful thing: I always loved this song, but recording it was so much fun that it turned into one of my favourite tracks on the album.

4. Almost

Consider this song a sequel to Memories on My Mind. Except, this time, it wasn’t a memory that was bringing back all kinds of feelings. It was him. Right there. In person. It was finally getting closure, 4 years too late (or so I thought). It was revisiting all the pain—the worst pain I think I’ve ever felt. This song was written two months after the situation actually occurred, when all the thoughts and feelings finally stopped aggressively swirling around inside me long enough for me to write a coherent verse or two. The beautiful thing: this song ended one of the longest periods of writer’s block I’ve ever experienced.

5. Danced All Night

First and foremost, I’d like to emphasize that this song is literally about dancing all night. I was out with a group of friends and I was actually having a good time at a club that didn’t play country music (a rarity in my life). One of the guys and I ended up sort of separating from the group a little and this happened. If this seems like a very average story about a night at a club, that’s because it is. The reason this inspired a song is because this was the first and only time something this sweet and simple ever happened to me. My anxiety rarely lets me relax in those settings, so this was a total miracle. The beautiful thing: I actually wrote a happy song, which happens approximately less than once a year.

6. What I Wouldn’t Do

I wrote this song on Bell Let’s Talk Day in 2017. It kind of just poured out of me when I picked up my guitar, and I didn’t think about what it was about until it was finished. The subject of mental health was on my mind that day, and it took me back to a defining moment of my current (and apparently permanent) mental state. It was something that had happened years ago that I never properly dealt with, and I guess this song was my way of confronting it. The beautiful thing: in the studio, this song turned into one of the biggest surprises; I like to describe its sound as Johnny Cash meets Lindi Ortega.

7. Sweet Silver Lining

An oldie in my song-writing journal, this song came to be all the way back in 2013. I vividly remember coming home from school one day and writing this with exactly no idea what it was about or where the lyrics were coming from. It took a few years and some outside opinions before I finally narrowed it down. To this day, I still cannot believe that 16-year-old Emily wrote a song like this. The beautiful thing: this was the first original song of mine that was ever played live with a full band—and we gave it the most gorgeous three-part harmony.

8. Until You Want Me

Sometimes the songs you write are profoundly influenced by the person you’re writing about. This song, for example, was influenced by someone who was very into alternative (also negative and slightly depressing) music when I knew him. It was only natural that when I sat down to write about our painful situation, I wrote a song inspired by the music we listened to together. The beautiful thing: this situation inspired me to step out of my comfort zone and it resulted in one of my favourite songs, and some of my favourite memories.

9. His Ghost

Written right on the heels of a messy and horrible breakup—my first in two years, after I had almost forgotten how painful breakups could be. It wasn’t the worst situation, but it hurt just the same. One of us wanted to leave, the other didn’t; guess which one I was! I wrote this song to cope, and it took everything in me to give it an optimistic ending. The beautiful thing: this was the last song I wrote for the album and it solidified the tracklist.

10. In Time (Something Beautiful)

I was optimistic and hopeful in 2013 when I wrote this. I believed that I had recovered from a very painful situation and that things were looking up. I believed that everything happened for a reason and that there was some beauty and some deep meaning in all that I’d gone through. Of course, life doesn’t always work like that and it turns out that I had not fully recovered (frankly, I still haven’t). The beautiful thing: having this song reminds me that no matter how much it hurts, there are going to be times when I feel that optimistic and filled with hope and meaning again; something beautiful really will come out of it all.

11. You Ain’t Woman Enough

Loretta Lynn is a country queen. Her music has been a huge influence on mine, especially in the last few years. This was the first Loretta song I remember hearing, and I fell in love with it. Musically, it was so catchy and fun. And lyrically, it was sassy and empowering (especially considering when it was released). I started performing it live and people would comment that I was just like Loretta. The beautiful thing: these comments lead to me starring as Loretta in a musical play about her life last summer, which was my dream come true and the best experience.

12. Golden Ring My first favourite singer was George Jones. I’ve loved him my entire life, but I only started to vocalize it at 2 years old. When I got the chance to sing this on stage a couple summers ago, it felt like I was coming full circle. When I got to sing this in the Loretta Lynn play last summer, it was one of the songs I looked forward to most during the show. This was almost always the last song on our setlist, so it felt right to make it the last song on my album as well. The beautiful thing: this song allowed me the chance to record a duet with one of my favourite people, who went on to become a huge part of this entire album.