SNoALP no. 12
- Real Life – Emili Sandé (Pop * 2019)
March 17, 2026 | I hadn’t heard of her before, but I looked the artist up after seeing her sit for a portrait on Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year (season 3 final). [As a side note that deserves its own entry, I have recently become obsessed with two British series: Portrait Artist of the Year and Landscape Artist of the Year.] | I had to keep reminding myself that this album was made before Covid because thematically it has a homey, we’re-in-this-together thing going on. Of course, musically it also had big choral arrangements and other elements that were not stripped down. I did like something about each of the songs, but there were a couple of standouts. My favorite song was probably “Honest,” but I also liked the take-the-world-by-storm, climactic-moment-of-a-Broadway-musical feel of “Sparrow” (I think I’m remembering that right).