Home Read Classic Album Review: Emm Gryner | Songs of Love & Death

Classic Album Review: Emm Gryner | Songs of Love & Death

This came out in 2005 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):

 


The cover girl returns. Three years after Emm Gryner distilled oldies like Crazy Train into stripped-down ballads, the singer-pianist is at it again — with a twist.

On Songs of Love and Death, Gryner focuses on Irish music. But you won’t find Danny Boy here. Or Van Morrison, for that matter. As usual, the eclectic Emm draws from a less traditional roster: Post-punks like The Undertones, rockers like Therapy?, popsters like The Corrs, and newbies like The Thrills. She may be a tad too eclectic for her own good — is anyone waiting for a cover of The Virgin PrunesBau-Dachong? But Emm’s musical instincts, as always, are perfect — whether she’s playing solo piano or rocking out, Gryner gets to the emotional core of a song and recasts it in a beautiful new setting perfectly suited to an unearthed gem from the Emerald Isle.