There are records that you listen to and there are records that you feel. Nostalgia, the new EP by Emily Haber, belongs to the second group. As well as being a collection of songs, it is an emotional map, a letter to childhood, a whisper in the ear of those who have lost a loved one. It is also the affirmation of an artist who, after a life behind the scenes, finally takes the stage.
Emily is not new to this. She was born with a severe hearing impairment, which from the beginning put her in a constant struggle with sound and music. However, far from giving up, she grew up touring the US with her family band Laughing Pizza and was signed to Sony/Epic as a young girl. But this EP is something else. It is the beginning of something of her own, an intimate and powerful statement, told from hurt and wonder.
The record, produced with Grammy winner Daniel Dávila, is made up of five songs that dance between indie pop and folk, with soft textures, synthesizers, guitars and, above all, a voice that remembers, cries and hopes. From the EP’s title track, Nostalgia, Emily invites us to look back with the eyes of someone who has lost something important. Childhood, a mother and even a version of herself. And with these images, the artist drags us to that place where time has not passed, but already feels distant. As if coming from that space between the lived and the lost, where everything becomes eternal.
The second track, After All, speaks of the silence that settles in when love begins to fade, while a part of you is still there. Not the End, meanwhile, is a reminder that all is not lost. Life hurts, but it goes on. It’s a song that doesn't give answers, but it accompanies. And then there's Next Time, that open letter to his deceased mother, that sigh we’ve all let out at one time or another. The song doesn't fall into the trap of melodrama, it's simple and direct, like a hug. “Maybe next time, I'll meet you there,” Emily confesses.
Nostalgia, as well as being her debut, is the testimony of an artist who has lived long enough to have something to say, and who has learned to say it beautifully. Emily Haber builds refuges in her songs, and when an album becomes a refuge, there is no doubt, we are in front of something important.