Vibrant singer-songwriter, composer and violinist, Emilia Patrick recently released an 11-track progressive pop debut album titled Different Shades of Black.
Tinashe Sibanda
The album is a new sound in African pop music and comprises a blend of live band recordings with digital elements. The music itself is a carefully blended pot of compositions that take from the various genres and experiences she has been through.
According to the Zvishavane-born artiste, the title of the album Different Shades of Black reflects the general concept or theme of the album.
“This is my first ever professional pop album where I put my sweat and blood into everything,” she said.
Patrick said before that she had ecorded and released an album called Breaking The Silence under the pseudonym “Kay” seven years ago.
The album received radio airplay on Power FM, but it went nowhere because she was studying in South Africa at the time and could not stay to commit towards pushing and promoting it.
“Audiences can expect more of Emilia Patrick and La Fmailia (My Band). That’s more professionalism, more beautiful, exciting, high quality music, more creativity and definitely more exciting, and jaw-dropping performances,” she said.
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Patrick said she was fully committed and focused on building her career now, so everything had to be at the highest quality possible.
“I love being on stage and connecting with the audience. My Talent was first discovered by my mother and my music teacher when I was at Whitestone Primary and these two are the water that fed the seed which then grew into the ‘tree’ you now know as Emilia Patrick so I owe them everything,” Patrick added.
She has been singing since she was a child, but started studying music at seven years old when she was singing in her primary school choir and playing violin in the school’s orchestra.
Patrick said she believed that the local music scene was filled with a lot of talent, but local artistes needed more support from the public and protection against piracy.
“If they can see the return on investment for their hard work then the quality of music will definitely rise because they will be able to buy better equipment and do a lot more,” Patrick said.
She felt blessed, Patrick said, to have a wonderful band that she could rely on and a very focused, ambitious and professional manager. She added that they were one family and that meant everything in this business.
The first song on her album which she collaborated with MC Cut is called Addicted. Apart from that, there aren’t any other collaborations on the album.
“I like collaborations, but I don’t do a lot of them because I am building my career and brand at the moment, so I only collaborate when the song being recorded, whether its mine or not, makes musical sense and benefits both artistes musically,” she said.
She added that, however, in future, she would love to collaborate with artistes like Mokoomba and Edith WeYtonga because she is a big fan of their music and how they work hard on their musical careers. Different Shades of Black was produced by her manager Simba-35 and herself. They sketched out the ideas and then hired different musicians to record the different parts at MFD studios. They then took the raw files and added all the digital elements and did all the vocals inhouse. The album was then mastered at Mix Masters studios. “In the next five years, I want to have at least three more albums under my belt. I want to see my music cross borders and be touring all over Zimbabwe, perhaps internationally too if the music is well received and appreciated,” she said. Patrick said she also wanted to help disadvantaged children as her career grows.
