A couple years ago, my wife and I were obsessed with Avalon Emerson's dream pop album & the Charm, so we bought tickets to her Toronto show.
Our first hint that something was amiss came when we realized that her set time was in the middle of the afternoon on a Sunday. We showed up to what turned out to be a daytime rave, with Avalon Emerson behind the DJ decks for a set of thumping house tunes. We soberly danced for an hour or two, then went home disappointed that we didn't hear "Astrology Poisoning" live.
"Don't Be Seen with Me," an Oppenheimer Analysis cover that kicks off Emerson's Perpetual Emotion Machine singles series for new label home Dead Oceans, falls somewhere in between those two stylistic extremes. Emerson's delay-soaked voice and candied choruses recall the bleary beauty of & the Charm, while the high-BPM thump and giddy arpeggiators make me wish I'd stuck around that afternoon for a little more raving.