What makes EmmaRose Sparkle valiantly daring to some, and intimidating to others, is her ability to pierce the emotional core of a situation. At her best, she goes beyond cutting through facades into the type of earth-shaking affirmations that may leave you speechless. With her single, “Flawless”, the 20 year old performer from Rochester, NY USA, resets the female singer-songwriter genre in much the same way that her more illustrious peers did before her. The record’s raw emotion will resonate with listeners due to its refreshing and startling honesty, sounding like blast of fresh air.
The jangling guitars and slamming drums are smartly topped off with EmmaRose Sparkle’s laser sharp, tongue-in-cheek, and self-pimping lyrics, which are an absolute sign of our social-media-influencer dominated times, as she asks: “Don’t you wish you were flawless like me?” Judging by this, I have no doubt that EmmaRose Sparkle will evolve into a contemporary alt-rock and pop singer-songwriter, crafting smart, canny songs with sturdy hooks and memorable melodies.
Embracing the ironic, “Flawless” doesn’t feel like an indulgence, but a progression for a brilliantly original and singular talent who has settled into a rather topical niche. Coming from a family that has seen multiple members graduate from Eastman School of Music in Rochester, EmmaRose Sparkle been writing music since she was seven and had her first choir solo in 4th grade. Not to mention that she was an extremely popular captain of her high-school cheerleading team.
She brings this baggage of talent and a taste of popularity into her extremely sardonic performance of “Flawless”, which becomes a perfect snapshot of the “beautiful perfect me” syndrome found on so many places like Instagram, and represented by people rising to fame for doing absolutely nothing, but being totally ‘flawless’ in the process.
“Flawless” has a gritty, unfussy production that flits between indie-pop and alternative-rock forming a solid foundation for EmmaRose Sparkle to lay down her utterly blunt charm and wit.
This song shines because of its brash arrangement and instrumentation that fully supports the proudly self-proclaiming lyrics and swaggering vocal display. The direct and raw melody comes through clear and unadorned with the ability to speak to the masses.
The energy “Flawless” beams out, is immediate, and so is the message: “Everybody is talking about me, all these other girls look so basic,” is enough to know exactly where EmmaRose Sparkle is going with the song. Its meaning is clear, it has a touch of playfulness to it, and a terrific sense of irony, yet it also subtly suggests the sinister depths that are lurking not far beneath the surface of self-referential behavior.
On “Flawless” you can hear a brutally direct, wittily astute and challenging artist stand tall on a song that surprises on the first listen, but really unfolds all of its calculated canniness after multiple spins. EmmaRose Sparkle’s wit and dynamism could truly light up any topic, when she’s on. I’m so curious to see where she goes from here.
