The Bollard Bulletin for June 9, 2025
Local Music Monday: Discover Emily Irving's "Secret Music World"
Local Music Monday
Looks like I missed Emily Irving’s debut-album-release show a couple Sundays ago. Zuckerberg is partly at fault. His fascist boot-licking got so bad after Trump won again that I stopped using his spyware (Facebook and Instagram) for anything other than work research (i.e., spying on local fascists), so I missed her post announcing it a month ago.
But Irving didn’t make it easy, either. The gig was at “Aunt Karen’s garden,” and fans had to RSVP to get her relative’s address and secure a spot on the lawn. Hers is, indeed, a Secret Music World, and having since heard it, I can now report that it’s an enchantingly beautiful place.
The 10 songs here, written over the past four years, mine the indie folk-rock vein and consistently strike gold, guided by Irving’s singular voice and her instinct for interesting songwriting.
Opener “Hot Pink Plastic” ushers you into her realm and hips you to her unconventional aesthetic. “I have a hot friend / I have a couple loose ends / I have playing cards / I scatter and it means nothing to me,” Irving sings with a delicate yet radiant tone that swoops and glides with the grace of a bird. The lyrics are impressionistic but the impression is unmistakeable: a young woman has lost her innocence and found the freedom to be herself, to sing in her own style and write songs like this that blossom into an unexpectedly grand outro adorned with horns and shimmering cymbals.
“She’s just a child for a little while,” Irving sings on the next track, “She Is an Ancient Blade,” a rock song with an alt-country accent that recalls a kid’s yearning for independence. The breezy “Macaroni Eagle” flashes back to a lakeside summer camp and openly rejects adulthood. “It’s hard work having no fun / It’s hard work working hard being serious,” she chirps on the super-catchy chorus, and later gifts us with the deliciously rebellious line, “File my taxes with ribbons and hot glue.”
It soon becomes clear that Irving can’t fail — she’s one of those vocalists you’d pay to hear sing the phone book (if such things still existed). Whether on a rock number like “What’s Done” or a country strummer like “Crooked River,” her voice keeps you listening. As do insightful lyrics like those of “Gold Heart,” a wistful folk tune on which she confesses, “I don’t want to have to think he’s just bored and alone / I don’t want to have to feel like it’s him or no one.” Ouch.
Irving, who also plays guitar, is joined by numerous fellow denizens of Maine’s overlooked indie-folk scene, including guests DJ Nelson (whose State Birds release featured her backing vocals) and the more electro-inclined artist Darksoft. The core band of Michael Sabin on bass, guitarist Chase Wheelock and drummer Hunter Coleman (who co-produced the record with Irving) is tastefully augmented with Sabin’s trombone and flugelhorn, Hamilton Belk’s pedal steel, and Heather Lynn’s backing vocals and clarinet, among others’ contributions.
Follow me into Irving’s wonderful world and, if you must, follow her on Insta. Better yet, ditch Suckerberg and subscribe to these Bulletins, because every time I catch wind of another gig, I’ll be sure to let you know — even if it’s in her aunt’s backyard.
Highlights
Gina & The Red Eye Flight Crew have taken up residence again at Portland House of Music and Events (25 Temple St.) for their weekly Funky Monday dance parties all summer at 9:30 p.m. Tix: $15 (21+).