Emma-Jean Thackray is an extremely talented, multi-dimensional and multi-instrumentalist musician, song-writer and producer. This proudly neurodivergent artist’s musical journey began in primary school, playing a cornet her parents had bought her from a second-hand music shop. She spent her teens as Principle Cornet and Trumpet in several notable brass bands and orchestras, going on to study at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and then Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in south London.
Her first EP (Walrus, 2016) was self-released at a time when a wave of successful instrumentalists were emerging. Emma-Jean’s sound, though, always incorporated the widest range of music, from spiritual jazz and funk to Detroit house and techno, northern Bassline and elements of rock and grunge. In 2018 she released the boundary-defying Ley Lines drawing comparisons with US heavyweights including Madlib.
Musically and creatively, her latest, Mercury Nominated album Weirdo bridges grunge, pop, soul and jazz, channelling George Clinton and Kurt Cobain in the award-winning artist’s powerfully idiosyncratic style. Virtuosic musicality and self-expression is combined with humour in this triumphant exploration of loss, recovery and gratitude.
