A serious injury slowed her down, but nothing could ever stop her.
Now back and stronger than ever, life-long songstress Emma Cook brings her updated indie vibes prevalent on her Feb. 2 drop Living Proof to Vernon’s Record City April 29.
“The album is a collection of songs that really came out of a really hard period for me,” Cook said. “I was recovering from a head injury. I was also having a baby.”
Living Proof, her fourth album,was written after Cook’s three-year struggle with Post-Concussive Syndrome and the birth of her child. Writing the album acted as a muse for Cook.
“The songs are really about struggle and the human condition,” Cook said of Living Proof. “I was so in it I didn’t realize some of the stuff I needed to deal with and process.”
Cook’s 10-song album delves deeper into the waters of indie pop, mixing together themes of loss and recovery to cast an image of hopefulness. Written on the keys instead of the strings, Living Proof marks an exploration into a whole new realm for the Toronto songstress.
“When I first started learning guitar, that was when I wrote the most. I was always playing, practicing. It wasn’t like a conscious decision, but maybe I’ll get that burst of creative energy. It’s a new instrument. It’s kind of a neat new avenue,” Cook said. “It totally worked for me.”
While she leaves the touring piano to the professionals instead opting for her axe, the evolution of Cook’s songwriting growth goes beyond the confines of the instrument on which it was written.
“This is more adult in a way, more eclectic, textured,” Cook said. “It’s more of a listening album. It’s definitely more pop leaning. My first album as pretty aggressive. I could have been called edgier before.”
While she has a few ideas, Cook is unaware of what caused her to evolve from her classic folk sensibilities into her current vibe.
“I joke that was something that happened when I got hit with a tree branch, but I don’t really think that’s why,” Cook laughed.
Regardless of the instruments she uses, however, Cook is dedicated to her craft.
“It’s not even that I love it, it’s just I have to do it. It’s a hard career that can be a lot of disappointment, (but) there are moments when it’s just bliss. I’ve always done it since I was little. My mom just said I would walk around singing when I was like three,” Cook laughed. “I always wanted to be a singer. I never waffled or wavered.”
Cook’s Living Proof tour takes her across the country’s western half, with stops on the Island before she makes her way through the Interior and over the Mountains.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Cook said. “I love touring through the mountains.
“There’s something special when you play every night. That feeling gets more amazing as the tour goes on.”
Cook will rock The Elite in Penticton April 28 before she rocks Vernon’s Record City alongside Gert Taberner, presented by SMG Endeavors, April 29 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 advance or $15 at the door.
Parker Crook | Reporter
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