Fresh Frets
SHE IS
a fiercely enigmatic indie-pop trailblazer whose overdriven road-trip anthems are at once emphatically eruptive and deliriously dreamy. Mei (by night, or Emily Hamilton by day) revels in a labyrinthine soundscape that sears and swells with emotional tension, just enough restraint in play that she never truly kicks over into grunge territory, but teases a dry, warbly edge.
SHE SOUNDS LIKE
the future of retro. Mei is a pioneer of the way guitars will exist in a synth-dominated pop world as the decade ahead of us unfolds.
YOU’LL DIG HER IF YOU LIKE
Metric, Grimes and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. With her sharp and spry slithers of musical whimsy, Mei evokes the imagery of late-night journeys through foreign cities, humming neon lights and open-zippered leather jackets, blood-red lipstick and bold, black-rimmed sunglasses; she’s cool as f***, basically. You’ll dig her if you’re cool, too.
YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT
her latest EP, Cry, showcasing four soul-absorbing gems of nostalgic pop plucked straight from the heart and wrung through a filter of fuzzy luminescence. You should also check her out onstage, off-white Strat firmly in-hand, where she truly shines as she tears through a jungle of reverb and delay, reeling the listener up close with her minimalistic verse rhythms all cool and cruisy, then roundhousing them into the sixth dimension when a blindingly bright chorus kicks in.