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One to watch: Pem

Husky-voiced British singer Emily Perry’s enigmatic songwriting goes hand in hand with her day job as a gardener…

Pem(short for Emily Perry) always had a husky tone, and while training to be a therapist after her degree she began to put what she calls her “loose larynx” to work, recording the gripping, emotional music she’d been playing at London open mic nights. Growing up in Berkshire, she wasn’t surrounded by creative communities, but at 13 taught herself guitar so she could cover Elliott Smith, Joni Mitchell, Laura Marling and write her own material. Lead single Awe is a shiveringly brilliant example of her skill in creating pocket sketches, full of feeling without being overspecific, meaning always present yet forever slipping out of reach.

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