4-Panel Cardboard Jacket with Regular Finish Emilie Kahn was raised on the outskirts of Montreal. Her parents met in a parking lot. In late 2015 Kahn released 10 000 under the moniker Emilie and Ogden, a record of folk- inspired indie ballads soaked in the pains of youth. The harpist traced a lovesick narrative across haunting blends of electronica and indie rock, a track list of lush landscapes driven by tales of bad breakups and hurt feelings. Released under Montreal staple Secret City Records, 10 000 was a pop album of its own league, and it quickly garnered wide acclaim for a new artist only beginning to discover her talents. Her initial success gave way to more: A viral video became a headlining tour; Festival circuits and sold out marquees; Stints opening for Half Moon Run; European dates with Plants and Animals. Soon, Emilie had found her seat at the table in the burgeoning Montreal indie rock scene. 3 years later, Kahn is no longer the same songwriter. She’s dropped the moniker and with it any sense of impersonation; what’s left is Emilie as herself, a keen writer determined to bend pop to her will. Outro, her latest effort, produced in collaboration with Warren C. Spicer of Plants and Animals, shows a craftsman come into her own. The songs have become something else, something older. Outro is a remorseful exit from youth, a pained look back as Kahn pores over every misplaced feeling and bad call. Teeming with adulthood’s melancholy, Kahn offers indie pop crafted with a miniaturist hand toward intimacy while still reaching for the grandiosity of the genre’s icons. This is a record that stings as much as it soothes, and never misses a chance to swing for the fences as she glances around one last time before heading off to some future island.
