Emilia Tarrant - 'Slow Motion'
A track to blast st full volume with the car windows open, ‘Slow Motion’ is a poppy and ethereal hit by Emilia Tarrant.
Having made waves at her Glastonbury debut this summer, Emilia Tarrant bowls fans over with her gorgeous new track, showing everyone her stunning vocals and songwriting ability. While her previous track explored how a relationship should be filled with reciprocation and mutual affection, this song deep dives into the experience of trying to hold on to the one you love. Already having six Records of the Week with BBC introducing and catching the eyes and ears of Alberta Cross, Jamie Lawson, Lloren and Aubrey Whitfield, Emilia is making her presence known this autumn.
The track unpacks a ‘picture perfect’ relationship and seeks out to look at the dichotomy of feeling wrong about something that to everyone else looks so right. There is a really powerful lyric in the song which Tarrant has explained helped get her in the headspace for writing the song. In her own words she explained
‘It is literally how it was, we were literally lying in bed like parallel lines. When I went to write it I just had this vision and thought of being in parallel lines and how wrong that seems when you’re in a relationship.’
It is a brilliant line to start the track on as it so eloquently illustrates the feeling of knowing something isn’t right with the relationship. Tarrant later on in the song talk about how she wishes the relationship had fluidity and passion, characteristics which perfectly contrast the rigid and clinical image of straight parallel lines. She expresses a desperation and hopelessness in the lyrics; she is coming to the realization that parallel lines are destined to never meet. Having long been a fan of metaphors in songs, this perhaps is Tarrant’s best and most thoughtful yet.
Her tone in this track is silky smooth but has a vulnerability to it which is perfect for the context of this song. Her softness and genuine emotion extend the idea of the ‘slow motion’ – notes are deliberately drawn out and are allowed to linger in a liminal space. The repetitive lyrics and earworm melody mirror the feeling of going around and around in circles and the build up towards the soaring high notes in the chorus echo the way in which issues in the relationship fester and ruminate. The listener to an extent joins in with ‘dancing around the situation’ and is pulled into Tarrant’s headspace with no way of getting out. While the melody and rhythm keeps you afloat, the lyrics beneath remind you constantly of that niggling feeling that something isn’t quite right.
It is intriguing to think of what could come next for this artist. Fans have already begun to request an acoustic version of the track, something which Tarrant has done for previous releases and has begun to tease at on her social media pages. She has a few shows lined up over the next few weeks, most exciting perhaps the JAM X WOMEN IN MUSIC event where she will be joined by other up-and-coming artists. As we come hurtling towards the new year and reflect on everything that Emilia has already achieved in 2022, it is without a doubt that she is one to keep on the radar.
Words by Kirsty-Ann Thompson
