On her breakthrough album “Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor,” which received multiple Gold and Platinum awards, Caro Emerald paid homage to the glitter and glamour of Hollywood in the glorious 1940s and 50s – with her eagerly awaited second work “The Shocking Miss Emerald,” the Dutch pop queen continues her fascinating journey back in time!
The success story of the passionate Dutchwoman reads like a wonderful dream: With “Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor,” she sold nearly two million units worldwide right away, was represented in the Dutch Longplay charts for 30 (!) consecutive weeks (four weeks longer than the previous record holder, Michael Jackson with “Thriller”), and was ultimately showered with a true downpour of precious metals across Europe for her Top 5 debut as well as the hit single “A Night Like This” (with which she sensationally spent 57 weeks in the NL charts)!
After various international awards such as the Echo, the Golden Camera, or the MTV Award, the 32-year-old Amsterdam pop diva is now continuing her big dream with “The Shocking Miss Emerald”! And this time it takes her far back into the past again: From the seedy jazz clubs of Hollywood, the journey leads to the equally shady yet glamorous Paris of the 40s and 50s – the perfect place for Caro Emerald, who remains true to her captivating retro style between jazz, swing, chansons, and South American rhythms, balancing nostalgia and modernity while also drawing stylistic inspiration from the European artistic movement of the early 20th century. Fashion, music, photography – all captured in “The Shocking Miss Emerald.” Caro and her team have spent almost two years perfecting the new material; and for the first time, they have fulfilled the long-held wish to work with a real orchestra! Under the guidance of the renowned composer and conductor Jules Buckley, who has previously helped acts like Basement Jaxx, Arctic Monkeys, or Professor Green into orchestral attire, a grand midnight cinema was created in the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London! What the modern cinematic masterpiece “Midnight In Paris” was for the late Woody Allen, the new album means for Caro Emerald. Curtain up and stage free for “The Shocking Miss Emerald”!
And so “The Shocking Miss Emerald” begins today exactly where the namesake ended her debut with the track “I Know That He’s Mine”: Paris. Musically, she presents herself this time a bit darker, more opaque, but also more romantic, vibrant, and of course much more glamorous. A nostalgically buoyant look at yellowed black-and-white photos with memories of golden times, brought back to life by Caro Emerald – of course in her own timeless style! Speaking of style: Something that has always been of crucial importance in the life of the Dutch singer and style icon. Caro Emerald has always been captivated by the haute couture of the 20th century and of course her cradle, the exciting fashion capital on the Seine. After months of research, they have dug through entire archives of antique photos for artistic inspiration; images from a long-gone era that now shine again in their former glory on “The Shocking Miss Emerald.” Since the earliest days, the French metropolis has been a magnet for intellectuals and artists of all kinds; whether poets, writers, painters, singers, dancers, or fashion designers – a multi-statically charged atmosphere that is still clearly felt on the magnificent boulevards and winding rues today and whose bright glow is also reflected on the album. Fashion icons like Coco Chanel or artistic legends like Man Ray and his entourage parade before the mind's eye. Luxurious hotels and bars emerge from the fog of the past, just like seedy cabarets where tortured artistic souls seek relief and forgetfulness. Caro Emerald also takes a look behind the scenes on “The Shocking Miss Emerald” and sheds light on the darker sides behind the glamour between sparkling champagne and salty tears.
Just like on the first single “Tangled Up”: “The piece is quite hooky; it’s about getting entangled in relationships with two different men,” says Caro. “The protagonist doesn’t know how to decide. I think the lyrics on the new album are a bit naughtier, more unruly compared to `Deleted Scenes...`. I take a step further and present myself as Miss Emerald from a side that may not have been so well known before. After being introduced as an elegant, lovely young lady, I now also present my darker sides...” Indeed, the exciting, undiscovered side of “The Shocking Miss Emerald.” “The album title actually refers to our way of working,” explains Caroline Esmeralda van der Leeuw alias Mademoiselle Emerald with amusement. “We try not to do everything the way the music industry usually dictates; regardless of the relationship. That may be quite shocking for some people!”
Highly seductive, sexy, shocking, and also a bit cheeky, Caro Emerald also presents herself on the dramatic love song “I Belong To You,” whose equally bombastic and captivating chorus even Shirley Bassey or James Bond would have been proud of. “Excuse My French” resembles a retro carousel on a tipsy Art Deco fairground with its swirling rhythm, while “My Two Cents” with its hypnotic piano in a Latino groove is dedicated to all the girls in the world who have fallen hopelessly in love with that particularly unattainable guy. A song with a 100% autobiographical background, considering the countless melting visitors at Caro’s chronically sold-out shows, who just happen to be mainly jostling for the best view on the stage side of her guitarist Wieger... On “The Maestro,” she bows to her great idol, fashion czar Karl Lagerfeld and his immortal statements. And finally, the notorious Miss Emerald has a real Southern song in her travel luggage with “Pack Up The Louie,” inspired directly by her second-hand vintage suitcase (of course from the Louis Vuitton atelier). Miss Emerald would surely be happy to share the whole story and that of its famous previous owner upon request!
After her sold-out shows, where Caro Emerald was able to delight more than 20,000 European fans on her last tour, her show on March 11 at the Royal Albert Hall in London is already sold out to the last seat! More dates to follow!
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