Musical polymath Emma-Jean Thackray brought her mix of jazz traditions, electronic club culture, funk and plenty of other influences to the stage at Nalen, and truly showing off her multi-faceted talents.
The English multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and producer Emma-Jean Thackray came to Sweden fresh off of her Mercury Prize gala performance and her album being shortlisted as one of the 12 best albums of the year for that prestigious prize. Her second full-length album Weirdo came out in April 2025 and it has gained a lot of critical praise.
The album’s original theme was about being neurodivergent and the complexitites of her own mental health. But it turned into grief, when her long-time partner died in 2023. She says these two things came together in terms of the record being about survival.
She played every single instrument on the album herself, and of course also wrote all the songs, and mixed and produced everything. She basically locked herself alone in the studio for a year to get it done, which she says was crucial to her mental health.
Her live performance with the musicians on keys, bass and drums, was at times experimental and improvisational (like jazz typically is in my admittedly limited experience), and at times very energetic with funky grooves and rather catchy melodies.
I found myself moving to the rhythm of my favorites of hers like Save Me and Wanna Die, which were giving dance-floor grooves with up-beat energy in the music, but juxtaposing that with the very dark lyrical themes. Mixing such vulnerable topics with sounds that feel the total opposite is part of what makes her music really stand out.
Emma-Jean Thackray clearly is a creative force to be reckoned with, and her Mercury Prize nomination affirms her growing influence. Her live show was compelling evidence of her ability to translate her complex studio work into a living-and-breathing concert experience.
All photos © Nina Uddin
