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AUSTIN, TX — One of the most rewarding things about SXSW is stumbling into a venue, knowing nothing about the next act, and leaving completely entranced. That’s exactly what happened when I caught London-based artist Emmeline. Her name wasn’t on my shortlist, but within minutes of her stepping on stage, I found myself leaning in, curious and completely locked in.
The setup was stripped down—just Emmeline, a drummer, and backing tracks—but the effect was immersive. There was no need for frills. Her voice, her words, and her emotional delivery were enough to shift the energy of the room. As she began to perform, I was immediately struck by the rhythm and restraint in her phrasing. The more she sang and spoke, the more it hit me: there was a certain Portishead quality to what she was doing. That same smoky intimacy. That feeling of sitting with something delicate and devastating all at once. But where Portishead leans into noir and shadow, Emmeline’s sound felt like sunlight hitting a poem—it illuminated even as it ached.
In advance of writing up this profile, I did a bit of digging. Apparently, her music has been described as “poetic soul”—a term I’d never heard before, but that suddenly made perfect sense. What Emmeline does isn’t just songwriting, it’s storytelling. Her spoken word approach gave her set a unique cadence, one where every syllable seemed to matter. It wasn’t about the beat drop or the hook—it was about how she made you feel with each line. There was poetry in the pacing, the pauses, the phrasing.
And that poetic lineage turned out to be more than metaphor. I found out that Emmeline is the daughter of Simon Armitage, the current UK Poet Laureate. That revelation made everything click into place. There’s a literary weight to her writing that you don’t often find in pop-adjacent acts, and it’s not performative—it’s embedded in the way she sees and sings about the world.
Watching her perform, I found myself leaning into each word—not just for meaning, but for mood. Her voice floated with a gentleness that didn’t ask for your attention, but commanded it anyway. It was the kind of performance that didn’t need volume to be powerful. I remember thinking, mid-set, how much I wished I could have put my camera down, laid out on the ground, and just let it wash over me. That’s the kind of emotional trance Emmeline creates.
I walked into her set a curious listener and walked out a fan. Her music now sits on one of my late-night playlists, slotted between Portishead and Arlo Parks. It’s the kind of sound that sits with you long after it ends—and at SXSW, that’s a rare kind of magic.
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CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE ACTS WE CAUGHT AT SXSW!
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CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE ACTS WE CAUGHT AT SXSW!
