Singer/Songwriter Emily James Releases New Single 'BACK IN THE SUMMER'

Today, LA based singer-songwriter Emily James releases the debut single from her new AWAL EP Wanted You to Know, part i set for release on February 26, 2021. The catchy upbeat track back in the summer was co-written with Evan Klar (Mallrat) and Justin Lucas (Khalid) who also co-produced the song. back in the summer is available on all digital platforms here.

Emily James began her musical journey growing up just north of New York City in a household where she remembers records - by Billy Joel and Stevie Wonder to musicals and folk music - always playing. The youngest of five kids, she would set up her karaoke machine in the kitchen and perform for her family. "I took it very seriously," she recalls with a laugh. She began taking piano lessons when she was five years old, and later added voice and guitar lessons. By the time she was ten, she was writing her own songs.

When James was just 11, a defining moment came when she heard Adele's "Someone Like You" for the first time. As James remembers it, "The way she made me feel her heartbreak - when I had never personally felt any emotions close to that yet - really showed me the power of music to move someone so deeply just by listening. It was my first realization that music isn't just entertainment, it has the ability to connect people on a deeper level." After that, James knew that she had found what she wanted to do with her life.

James threw herself into music with single-minded devotion; she started performing her music professionally in New York City while still a teen and then with her parents in tow, began driving down to Nashville to play gigs there. Not unlike another guitar playing curly-haired teen we know, James convinced her parents to move to Nashville. "Being surrounded by all the songwriting and the songwriters and the musicians, it was just such an inspiring atmosphere," she says. Her instincts proved correct when the illustrious producers Ian Fitchuk (Kacey Musgraves) and Jacquire King (Kings of Leon) signed on to oversee her self-titled debut EP in 2016.

Much as James enjoyed living in Nashville, she found herself drawn to California, so she moved to Los Angeles in 2017. The following year, she released her debut full-length album, Til the Morning, which was produced by Ryan Hadlock (The Lumineers, Vance Joy). With these projects Emily James has amassed well over 22 million streams.

With this new EP, Wanted You to Know, part i, James continues to grow with that same focused intensity at honing her craft, she says "I feel like this project is completely where I want to be creatively."

Keep an eye and ear out for more from this young singer songwriter, back in the summer is available on all platforms now.

Stream back in the summer, here.