Linn Koch-Emmery‘s EP Boys was one of our favourite short-players last year, to the point where we even made excuses to sneak it onto an end-of-year album round-up. After a 2018 where she hit the road pretty heavily, the fact that the Swedish rising star is back with a new EP is therefore very good news. Her follow-up to Boys, Waves, arrives on Friday, and we can happily bring you the premiere of the title track.

We’ve already heard two shots from the Waves EP, the singles Wires and Don’t Sleep On My Luv. Waves the song goes in a different direction to those tracks. It’s on the more abrasive, blunt end of Koch-Emmery’s sound, less clean than the previous singles, with a grit and growl to her usual guitar fuzz. The opening verses see Koch-Emmery keep her voice low-key, in a surly and bleak mood, before the song eventually cracks open into a gut-punch, thunderstorm of a singalong chorus. That chorus is the biggest, most forceful moment on the EP, and that makes Waves the perfect track to have as a sign-off song. Check it and a couple of q’n’a questions with Koch-Emmery below.

Hey Linn, introduce us to your new EP Waves. 

It’s my second EP, it’s called Waves and I’m very happy about it!

How would you describe the relationship between this EP and last year’s Boys? Are the songs from different time periods, and what would you say the main differences between the EPs are?

I wanted to do something a bit more dynamic on this record, the highs are a bit higher and the lows a bit lower. It’s still typical me, pretty straightforward, a bit messy – but with a bit more glitter to it.

As well as the title and title track, lyrics about waves pop up on the track You & I too. What does that represent in your songwriting?

As long as I can remember I have been referring to my mental up and downs as waves. Sometimes it’s easier to describe something rather complex with something simple, I guess that goes for a lot of stuff. 

Finally, you’re releasing both these EPs as one vinyl package now. Does that mean Boys and Waves mark one era of LKE, and what’s coming up next?

Yeah maybe, but I still feel like everything is just starting off. I just got back from playing in Germany, we’re doing a show in Stockholm now and then the EP is officially released on Friday! Lots of plans for the spring but it’s still a bit secret.. 

Waves and Linn Koch-Emmery’s Waves EP are out on November 9 on Welfare Sounds & Records.