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Emma Louise: Out Of The Jungle, Deep Into Her Heart

The 24-year-old musician opens up about her latest record, 'Supercry'.
Emma Louise will embark on a national tour this October.
Mushroom Group
Emma Louise will embark on a national tour this October.

Emma Louise would smile in disbelief every time Sam Smith left her dressing room ahead of their performance on Smith's Lonely Hour tour.

"He was so nice, so chilled -- the coolest dude," Louise told The Huffington Post Australia.

It hadn't quite sunk in for Louise, who was invited to support Smith on the Oceania leg of his world tour out of the blue.

"I'd never played stadiums before and it came at a time when I'd been off the radar for a while."

But the invitation was very welcome, reassuring for Louise, in a way.

"I love playing live and I didn't realise how much I'd missed it until I played the Sam Smith shows," Louise said.

Emma Louise released her sophomore album, Supercry on Friday.
Mushroom Group
Emma Louise released her sophomore album, Supercry on Friday.

A year had passed since the release of her debut album "Heads vs Heart" which catapulted a then 21-year-old Louise into the spotlight. The track that changed it all? Jungle.

You can understand the weight a song has by the way an artist talks about it and for Louise, "Jungle" was like an unexpected storm of attention and fame.

"Before 'Jungle' happened it was just me and my guitar," Louise said.

"We were just busking and playing different gigs and different cafes and it was very kind of intimate -- innocent in a way."

"And then it all happened so fast and I didn't really have time to adjust," Louise said.

Emma Louise performing 'West End Kids' from her latest album, Supercry.

With the benefit of hindsight, Louise now looks upon the experience as a learning curve and one that set the precedence for her sophomore album, "Supercry" released on Friday.

Emotionally charged and completely vulnerable, the record reveals a side to Louise the world hasn't yet seen.

"There is a time to be polite.. and a time to be forceful -- especially in music," Louise said.

With "Supercry", Louise holds nothing back as she lays bare the very real pain of heartbreak while on the brink of adulthood.

"I wrote Supercry two years ago and I was really doubting myself at the time."

When I was doing 'Head vs Heart' I hadn't really learnt to let go of the control and it was a scary thing -- giving my music to other people for the first time.

"But I've learnt to just chill out and have faith that at the time I wrote it -- it was real," Louise said.

It's clear the production process for Supercry was much more enjoyable for Louise, who admits the break in between was needed to bring her back to her love of music.

"When I was doing 'Head vs Heart' I hadn't really learnt to let go of the control and it was a scary thing -- giving my music to other people for the first time."

"It was pretty stressful to make and in the process it kind of grinded my confidence down," Louise said.

With the announcement of a national tour kicking off in October and a few tracks already being written for the third record, it's clear Louise is doing things on her terms.

"I've learnt that when you're super passionate about something, sometimes you've just got to break down doors and be a bit forceful."

Supercry is out now.

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