Sad Surprise

Ever wonder where someone was hiding out before they roared onto the scene out of nowhere?

Dig deep and you’ll discover that Emma Citrine isn’t a total newbie, having played nearly every room that matters in town as a member of dream-dazed duo Leave, under the name Emma Daly.

Her reverb-bathed solo debut, Sad Surprise—which, despite its title, is anything but a downer—suggests that she’s not above ripping it up on a Saturday night. Things get off to a gunsmoke-and-whisky-blasted start with “Poor Boy, Blind Man”, after which Citrine channels the discordant beauty of the Velvet Underground with “Make War”.

Unleashing her inner torch singer for the hazy “A Screaming Comes (Across the Sky)”, she then proves she hasn’t forgotten her roots with the lovely folk comedown “Give Them Love”.

As official coming-out parties go, they don’t get much more self-assured.