Emmaleen Tangleweed Interview: “I make a lot of stuff up, I’ll cry over an imaginary story”

Emmaleen Tangleweed gives the blues a new shade of darkness.

In true outlier fashion, the Swakopmund, Namibia-born, Cape Town, South Africa-based songwriter has quietly gone about her business with little concern for anything outside of her realm. To take their art to the darkest corners, it’s the only way a songwriter can be, and over the last two years, Tangleweed has done just that with two full-length releases in as many years – Songs from the Unseen, the Unsaid and the Unborn (2022) and The Sun Will Still Shine When You Die (2023).

Earlier this year, Tyneside’s Cruel Nature Records released the two long-players as one, and while perhaps a lengthy proposition in this modern age, together both albums stack up seamlessly.

Tangleweed is a yarn spinner of heartbreak and woe. The highlight? Choose your poison, for there is plenty. From outer spirits living inside you (Bone House) to the anxieties that freedom often brings (Wailing Trees) and navigating unimaginable loss (Timesickness), Tangleweed’s narratives are fierce. Her voice, drenched in whisky that is like an accelerant to the campfire flames, and accompanied by the twang of banjo, acoustic and classical guitar, her songs oscillate between homely and haunting in something of wide-screen quality.

Tangleweed’s songs are atmospheric and alluring, guiding you to simpler, more innocent times. A portal to the past, but not in a nostalgic way; there’s a different dimension of escapism at play here, located somewhere between the tall grass and lonely roadhouses. Her characters, brimming with wisdom, and through these grainy, sepia-tone tales, perhaps it’s Being Born where Tangleweed best sums up this journey (“Does anyone have the key / Does anyone know the way … Being Born is being blind”).

Last month, shortly after the re-release of Songs from the Unseen, the Unsaid and the Unborn / The Sun Will Still Shine When You Die, Tangleweed answered a series of questions about her journey so far and the inspirations behind the destinations she has reached.

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Sun 13: What are you first musical memories?

Emmaleen Tangleweed: “I was lucky my parents had good taste. I was exposed to Nina Simone, Tom Waits, to name a few very early on in life. The first music I really loved was Jimmy Hendrix, my dad played him to me as a baby.”

S13: Do you remember the first record that inspired you to start making music?

ET: “Elephant by The White Stripes was the first record I fell in love with when I was about 12. I was already writing poetry, stories and playing guitar from a young age, songwriting came later. Then I discovered blues and listened to that obsessively.”

S13: While Songs From the Unseen, the Unsaid and the Unborn and The Sun Will Still Shine When You Die are two separate albums, they work so seamlessly together. Is this something you also found once they were released as one?

ET: “Yes, I designed the albums to work together to exist in the same world almost as chapters in a novel.”

S13: On that note, how did you come to work with Cruel Nature Records?

ET: “We followed each other on Instagram, I really liked the name. I emailed Steve with a link to my music, and he loved it and everything flowed from there.”

S13: Was the writing process the same for both records?

ET: “Yes, the writing process was very similar for both albums, just sitting with my instruments and allowing my imagination to wander.”

S13: What was the most important aspect you wanted to achieve on both, and did these objectives differ from each release?

ET: “I wanted to create music that a listener could really get drawn into, an intimate feeling of being in the room with me. Almost all the instruments are acoustic and I played most of them with the exception of drums on a few songs performed by Gavin Bonner and cello performed by Lliezel Ellick on Wailing Trees.

“For the second album, I wanted to travel deeper into the world I had begun to create in the first album. There was other stuff I wanted to express in the same vein.”

S13: Your stories are deep and really feel like they would have taken quite some time to pull together. Does it all start with one idea then you work from there?

ET: “Making an album can be overwhelming and a big project, so I take baby steps. When I write a song, I’ll usually write another one that makes friends with the first one and then they start breeding. I don’t know how.

“It’s a very intuitive process for me. I think writing lots of songs is key, even if some of them don’t make it on an album. My music often surprises me, my lyrics sometimes haunt me, and I wonder where it comes from. I’ve also experienced fully formed songs come to me in dreams. It’s a magical process I’ve learnt to respect.”

S13: You’re a real storyteller. Is literature a big influence of yours?

ET: “Thank you, yes I read a lot. Literature has a huge influence on my songwriting. Reading builds up imagery and vocabulary as well as emotional intelligence which is quite important for good songwriting.”

S13: I find that your music reveals vivid imagery, and ones that I wouldn’t directly associate with your immediate surroundings of Cape Town. As an artist, would you consider yourself an outlier?

ET :“I feel like an outsider in the Cape Town music scene, it’s been disheartening at times, and I’ve shed a lot of tears. I don’t really fit in anywhere. But the people who love my music, love it fiercely and are so diverse in age and background.”

S13: How much do you think your surroundings influence your songs?

ET:“I’m influenced by everything. If I live with people they will work their way into my songs, terrible landlords, all the places l’ve lived, strangers tell me their life stories all the time. I have a gift of being very connected to my surroundings and other people which also means I need a lot of solitude to function and feel balanced in this world.”

S13: I saw a social media post of yours that explained playing live is always a new opportunity for new possibilities, which is an interesting way of looking at it. Do you enjoy performing live?

ET: “I need to perform live, music needs to be played, and a performance can give people an emotional experience they wouldn’t normally have.

“I believe art can change us and our spirits need feeding. I’ve been learning how to change the atmosphere of a room. I’m grateful to have cellist Lliezel Ellick to perform with me so I don’t feel so alone.”

S13: Are you someone who has an interest in new music, or do you like to stay within your own sphere and not get distracted by what others are doing?

ET: “I try to stay in my own lane, I guess I’m a bit of a purist. I have a wide taste in music, and I am generally very open minded, but I also know what I like. A lot of new music doesn’t sound new to me, it’s just a rehash opium for the masses.”

S13: Do you think your songs reflect your personality, or do you use music as a vessel to escape certain realities?

ET: “I make a lot of stuff up, I’ll cry over an imaginary story. I’m quite an emotional person but I’ve learnt to take the drama out of my life and put it into my art.”

Songs From The Unseen, The Unsaid and The Unborn / The Sun Will Still Shine When You Die is out now via Cruel Nature Records. Purchase from Bandcamp.