Emily Ulman On New Album ‘Severe Clear’
Melbourne/Narrm singer-songwriter, and music industry legend, Emily Ulman returns with new album Severe Clear. Emily worked alongside a stellar team to realise her creative vision. Produced and mixed by Bonnie Knight (Amyl and the Sniffers, Angie McMahon, Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers) at The Aviary, with Every Hillside recorded at Soundpark, the album was mastered by Simon Berckelman (Courtney Barnett, Passenger, Lime Cordiale, Cate Le Bon). Drawing inspiration from the likes of Julia Jacklin, Adrienne Lenker, Big Thief, Pinegrove and Bill Callahan the album’s songwriting, structure and emotional weight are further enriched by contributions from Gab Strum (Japanese Wallpaper, Mallrat, Gretta Ray), Alex Lashlie (Closet Straights, Loose Tooth), and Soren Maryasin (Stella Bridie, Chitra). Emily talks to Hi Fi Way in greater detail about the album.
Did you get to celebrate the release of your album?
I’m did an in-store at one of my favourite record stores here in Melbourne called Rocksteady Records in the city. I think it’ll be sort of basking in the feeling that it’s finally out in the world. It’s been ten years since my last record came out, so I feel like there’s a lot to celebrate, and I just want to enjoy it. I can’t actually believe it. I think that’s why it feels a bit almost remote to talk about, because the enormity of it hasn’t quite hit me yet.
Ten years is a long time, did life just get in the way?
I work in music behind the scenes. So yeah, I think I’ve been a bit more career-focused. I’ve always been writing and creating behind the scenes. I started an online music festival during COVID, so that took up a lot of time, and just various programs that I’ve been involved in. I think just focusing on other people’s careers more so, and I just love the grassroots emerging independent music scene here in Melbourne, but nationally as well. It’s been my passion to support and profile. It took me a minute to kind of see myself as a musician again, and flip that, I’ll change my hats, change my Bulldogs beanie, and be a musician again.
Is that like a soft reset in some ways, to be able to relaunch yourself and musically take it in a slightly different direction?
Yeah, definitely. It’s not all that different the way I write, but I think there’s a maturity now in its presentation, and the subject matter is always incredibly personal. I write from a very vulnerable place, as lots of musicians do. That’s also a little bit of a challenge, putting a body of work out there that’s so intrinsic and personal, and putting that out for people to hear, judge and hopefully enjoy.
When you put so much vulnerability behind the lyrics and the music, is that hard letting them go?
I’m so proud of this record. I think that’s what I was just saying between the albums coming out. There is a difference, not so much in the way I write or anything like that but just the presentation. Working with Bonnie Knight, who produced this record, was incredible. Bonnie is just wonderful, and really brought out the most in the songs. The songs aren’t that old, I wrote them all during COVID, and then it’s just taken a little while to find time to get into the studio, and then mix, master and all of those things. But I’ve already got a lot more material ready to go if and when that might happen.
It’s a very different landscape to navigate now, where it’s all drip-feeding singles and not necessarily about the physical anymore. Has that been something that’s also been challenging especially now that you’re focusing on your own music?
Massively, it’s just such a different landscape. The drip feeding of singles and material and feeding the algorithm, as they say, is just such a difference. Ten years ago, a single or a song could last in the media landscape for months and months, and would still get attention and radio play. But now, it’s such a fast turnaround. The cycle is just so much faster and it’s all about content now, about social media and all the ways that you present yourself online which is fun, it’s a whole other kind of world. It’s just a whole other brain, it’s not just about writing the material, it’s not just about recording it, it’s not just about releasing it, it’s also about creating a video and all the content that goes around it, which I do love. It’s just sort of juggling all the different priorities. But I’m like you, I’m nostalgic. I’m pressing vinyl because I really love the old school. I love the product, I love the artwork, and having the lyrics and the liner notes, all that stuff. I’m very much in that realm of it being sort of enduring.
Did everything go to plan in the studio?
I had so much material. I had twenty-something or more songs. So there was this first early pre-production thing of whittling down the songs. There was one particular song that didn’t make the album that we tried so many different ways to make work and sound good. In my head, I had this picture, well, an audio picture, and we just couldn’t land it. So yeah, in an alternate universe, that song would have made the record, but maybe it’ll make the next one. Also, I ended up recording one song Every Hillside, in a separate studio at a separate time, so that has, for me, a standalone feel and then I did two separate weeks for the rest of the album. In my mind, I feel like that particular song has a different vibe to it, which is beautiful in itself. I just loved that recording bubble. I loved the feeling of chipping away and seeing these songs come to life. When I write them, they start as skeletons, I write with my guitar, and then they kind of become these characters. That’s really special. So yeah, in terms of things that maybe didn’t go according to plan, I think I’m a bit impatient, so I probably would have wanted things to come together more quickly. But at the same time, I’m glad they didn’t, because all of the detail and precision has led to the product that it is, and I love it so much. I think it’s my favourite thing that I’ve done.
When you reflect on the whole experience, did you learn a lot more about yourself than you originally anticipated?
Yes, always. I think, like any creative pursuit or any project like that, especially when it’s collaborative and also quite public it’s a huge learning curve, I find, particularly going into the studio. It’s a really sort of bare-bones, stripped-back feeling, where it’s you and the song, and is it going to stand up? Is it actually going to translate into something that is either relatable, or universal, or something that is actually worthy of inclusion? I guess that song, it’s called 2020, and the one that didn’t make it. I guess it didn’t have the weight and the strength to hold up, and so I think there is that moment, this real reckoning that happens in the studio, and I learned a lot which was great.
Were there any particular artists or albums that really shaped what you ended up with?
I sent Bonnie ahead of time, the producer, a playlist of references, sometimes just sonic references, like, just the way particular songs are constructed and layered. I have so many influences from Big Thief to Julia Jacklin to Joan As Policewoman. It’s kind of endless, whether or not I sound like them, whether or not there’s any of that actually come through in the final recording or record, I have absolutely no idea, but they just inspire me. I think it’s more about inspiration than influence potentially. There’s just such a clear personality that comes through with each song. I feel like that’s something that I really aspire to as well, to give every different song its own flavour. I don’t think I’ve necessarily landed that, or nailed that in the past. I feel like, hopefully, on this album, that’s recognisable.
The single Severe Clear, what’s the story behind that song?
Severe Clear is an aviation term. Pilots use it as a description for when the sky is so pristine and cloudless, and there’s sort of this endless visibility. I think we can all picture a blue cloudless sky, and it has that endless feeling. Pilots describe it as being so clear that it’s dazzling, and it’s almost hard to look at, because there’s no depth of field, no clear delineation of perception. Severe clear conditions often happen after a storm, when there’s been this huge eruption of rain and clouds and whatever it is, and then the next day it clears out, and then these beautiful, clear, endless, severe clear skies. I really love that as a metaphor, many people have used it before, but just that feeling of clarity after a storm.
In terms of what’s next, are you looking to tour around the country?
Yeah, definitely. I don’t know whether a tour as such, but I’ll definitely play some shows around the country, and definitely hope to get some support spots. Keep playing, keep writing, hopefully there’s a bit of longevity in this album, and just hope people like it.
Interview By Rob Lyon
Severe Clear is out now, purchase/ stream HERE
