“This video captures the dream-like world I was in when I wrote ‘Something Better’,” Wolfe says. “It adds a fun flare to a pretty heavy song, and the intention was to balance out the serious nature of the lyrics. Beth Garrabrant had this killer treatment and idea to pull a ’90s childhood theme into today’s world, which reflects a lot of the song and Barbara FG, the director, really nailed the visuals. I love how subversive ’90s music videos were back in the day, so that was another inspiration for the visuals. It was amazing working with two really supportive, smart and creative women on this. My bass player Evan Nicholson and drummer Clellan Hyatt brought their characters to life naturally, and I think we all made something really great together.” Watch and listen now: With its delicate collision of so many eclectic sonic elements—shimmering beats, sultry grooves, riffs both visceral and elegant—Wolfe’s second full-length album, Outlier, marks a significant departure while retaining the unbridled intensity she’s shown in sharing stages with such acts as The Struts, The Pretenders, White Reaper and Catfish and the Bottlemen. Produced by Michael Shuman of Queens of the Stone Age and Mini Mansions, Outlier explores the boundaries of rock-and-roll and modern pop, mining equal inspiration from the likes of Judas Priest and Ariana Grande in her bold but masterful genre-bending. Not only a showcase for her formidable guitar chops, Outlier perfectly spotlights Wolfe’s commanding vocal presence and newly expanded range. On the album’s radiant lead single “Something Better,” for instance, her voice drifts from tender to tough and back again with incredible grace, exponentially amplifying the song’s mood of dreamy longing. “I wrote ‘Something Better’ at a point in my life where I felt stuck,” she says. “But now with the pandemic, it feels more like a universal song about wanting change and not knowing when things are going to be OK.” For Wolfe, that shift in approach has essentially reshaped her identity as an artist. “Making this record aligned with my journey as a person, and helped me grow into someone who no longer sees things in black and white,” she says. “It taught me that I don’t have to try to fit into one box—I can take the energy of rock and blues, which is very on-the-fly and spontaneous and raw, and blend that with the polish of pop music, where everything is much more intentional. I feel like I’m a totally different musician now than I was five years ago, like I’ve grown into myself. I’m finally able to show people who I am and not be afraid of it.” Find out more at https://www.emilywolfemusic.com/ Next, do people who are tone-deaf hear music differently?
