I finally caught up with Embla and the Karidotters by chance by way of an email stuck in the wrong part of gmail and which I almost zapped. Glad I didn’t.
The band is named for Embla Karidotter and includes members from groups such as Razika (her band), Aiming for Enrike, Honningbarna, the Needs, and Sløtface, although I can’t decipher who is who just yet.
She fashioned the band out of her passion for country music, a direction Beyoncé just chose so who’s going to challenge that? They won the country Spellemann (Norwegian Grammys) music award in 2022 with the debut ‘Hello I’m Embla’ and have played in the last year both the main stage at the Øya Festival (that’s quite a coup) and at SXSW.
So everything seems to be going rather splendidly.
This new album, ‘Off Leash’, which they say will be “rowdier” as its title suggests, is to do with “searching for belonging, identity, love and self-worth”. I’m not sure quite how you can do that if you ‘Couldn’t care less’, the theme on this single, but I’m here to learn.
They say this one is more fun than its predecessor and follows the honky tonk (ragtime with emphasised rhythm) style, which is one of half a dozen of they attribute to themselves including Americana, Nordicana, alt-country, and outlaw country, whatever that is.
You’d think outlaw country songs might be produced by Ennio Morricone but they’ve selected as their producer Simen, their pedal steel player who also plays in Aiming for Enrike.
So, David and the Bentleys, you prattled on enough already. What’s the song like?
I love it. I accidentally clicked on ‘Click your heels’, the next track down on Spotify. That is pure Nashville, it could be Dolly, but there’s a whole load of Jenny Lewis from her ‘Rabbit Fur Coat’ album in there as well.
But ‘Couldn’t care less’ is something else again. Its three minutes of unadulterated fun, and a real hotchpotch of a thing, throwing pop, rock and soul into a melting pot and garnishing the result with a wonderful ska beat and trumpet.
And speaking of Ennio there are even traces of Spaghetti Western movie soundtracks to add even more spice.
To top it all there’s Embla’s enchanting vocal.
Attention all BBC radio station producers! I want to hear this on the airwaves here – now. Brighten your shows up a bit; you really can’t go wrong with this song.
The single is available now, via Jansen Records // Die With Your Boots On Records. And the album drops on August 26th.
I just had to include the image above. Anything Beyoncé can do, Embla can do better.
Find them on:
Website: https://emblakaridotter.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emblaandthekaridotters
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emblakaridotter/
