Listen: New single from Llinos Emanuel showcases a voice like no other

Stephen Price

Carmarthen-born singer-songwriter, Llinos Emanuel has released her eagerly-anticipated new single, ‘Lover of Mine,’ providing the perfect showcase for her soothing, honey-tinged harmonies.

Llinos recently moved back to Wales from London, ahead of the release of her debut English and Welsh single, Golden/Unlle which achieved a two week run on Radio Wales’ coveted ‘A List’.

Following her heartstopping debut comes Llinos Emanuel’s second single – ‘Lover of Mine’ – which is out everywhere now.

To celebrate the release, Llinos performed an intimate showcase at Paradise Garden, Cardiff on the launch night.

Confessional and vulnerable, ‘Lover of Mine’ explores feelings that can often be too painful to face.

“Never go”

Guided by an ethereal choir of Llinos Emanuel’s voice, she grapples with expectation in a relationship and how hard it is to escape the roles we find ourselves playing.

Co-produced by Emanuel and Barnabas Poffley, ‘Lover of Mine’ invites us to meditate on our own lives and reflect on how our unique challenges shape us.

An enchanting blend of angelic vocals, waterfall harmonies, and impressionistic songwriting, Llinos Emanuel is asserting herself as an emerging talent after years of lending her voice to the likes of Jacob Collier, Tom Odell, and Paris Paloma.

Think Eva Cassidy, Emily King, The Staves. An effortless blend of jazz, folk and heartbreak, woven together with layers of vocal harmonies.

Success

Born and bred in Carmarthen and a native Welsh speaker, Llinos attended Bro Myrddin Secondary School where she regularly competed in the Urdd National Eisteddfod.

Following school, Llinos moved to Cardiff to study Classical singing, before moving to London, and headed to Trinity College of Music to study a master’s in jazz singing.

Llinos remained in London for several years working in the music industry as a singer, songwriter, composer, and arranger.

After a successful career working for other musicians, Llinos decided to move back to west Wales to begin concentrating on her own music.

Feeling inspired by the rolling hills of Carmarthenshire, and the golden sands of Cefn Sidan, Llinos began writing her best songs to date.

Hiraeth

Llinos told Nation.Cymru: “Lover of Mine was written in 2019, which feels like a lifetime ago. I originally wrote it for a band I was in at the time called Archie, but somewhere down the line it got shelved and I didn’t really think of it again until early 2023 when I started picking tracks to record for my solo project.

“‘Lover of Mine’ has always been my dad and sister’s favourite song that I’ve written, and I’ve written hundreds and hundreds so that’s saying something, but I never really clicked with it myself.

“I played it on a whim to my co-producer Barnabas Poffley and he loved it too so before I knew it, it was decided, we were recording it. We lay down the guitar with Lloyd Jerwood and the double bass with Twm Dylan and while seeing the song come to life was exciting, I still wasn’t sure about it.

“It wasn’t until I lay down the vocals that I fell in love with the song. There’s something about recording backing vocals in your childhood bedroom, under layers and layers of duvet (to help with the soundproofing), in the middle of summer, sweating like a mad thing that forces you to fall in love with a song. In that space I really connected with the lyrics in a way I hadn’t before.

“Hearing the finished song was a magical experience and by then I was sure this would be the second single.”

Llinos’ first single ‘Golden’ has a Welsh version titled ‘Unlle’ which she says she is “so proud of”. The two versions were written on the same day and while the songs are similar in context, they aren’t a direct translation of each other, something that came easily to her in the writing process.

She told us: “When deciding on a track to debut my solo career I felt it was important to have both a Welsh and English version to pay homage to the two languages that have shaped me as a songwriter. ‘Lover of Mine’ does not have a Welsh version, part of me wishes it did but I wrote this song about a year before ‘Golden’, when I was living in London, and the Welsh version didn’t come to me at the time, so it felt wrong to write it later.

“I have had such an overwhelming amount of love and support from the Welsh community with ‘Unlle’ that I can say with certainty that I will be releasing other Welsh songs in the future.”

Striking gold

As an independent artist, with no team and virtually no following at the time, things couldn’t have gone better for Llinos.

She shared: “I am so grateful for all the love, especially from the people of Wales. Having ‘Golden’ selected for the BBC Radio Wales’s Welsh A List and ‘Unlle’ selected as Radio Cymru’s Track of the Week was incredible, so much radio play!”

“I was also so lucky to get some wonderful write ups, and playlisted by some big playlists which helped boost my streams significantly.

“None of this would have been possible without all the wonderful radio presenters and producers, journalists, bloggers, playlisters, and new fans that went above and beyond to help me spread the word. I will forever be indebted to them all!”

She told us: “I was lucky enough to put on a single launch for my debut single ‘Golden’ at the Green Note in Camden, which unexpectedly sold out, and it felt right to put on a show in my home country, in the city where I studied to become a singer, to celebrate the release of my second single ‘Lover of Mine’.

“Paradise Garden is a gorgeous venue, they have lots of yummy drinks, and such a warm, welcoming atmosphere. I couldn’t have chosen a better place for the single launch – just me and my guitarist, Twm Dylan.”

Website – www.llinosemanuel.com

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/llinosemanuel/

TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@llinosemanuell

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@llinosemanuel

Soundcloud – https://tinyurl.com/4vhffumd

Spotify – https://ffm.to/golden-llinosemanuel