Val Emmich Little Daggers

All of the songs on Little Daggers, by Val Emmich, combine honest lyrics, sweet melodies, and lovely, sometimes soothing, vocals. “The Lucky Ones” is a great opener, getting the listener hooked to this fun, yet almost calming album and the closer of the album, “Catalyst,” is a great way to end it, bringing all of the elements in each song together – a pretty melody with beautiful piano and heartfelt lyrics. Many, if not all, of the songs are easy to sing along with and it is hard not to burst out with a line or two while listening. I can easily envision girls of any age singing this in a variety of settings and situations.

“Darling Denise” and “Wake Up Brand New” are great examples of what Emmich is doing on this album. “Darling Denise” is simple, short and sweet; any girl would want to be Denise. He does use some hackneyed phrases, “You’re shakin’ my knee” and “Like a statue in a temple,” to express love, but when you listen to it they don’t seem hackneyed; they seem to be more beautiful because of their straightforward delivery. “Wake Up Brand New” has a cool guitar riff in the beginning, which adds a little punch to the album with fun lyrics to sing along to like, “We’re on the edge of breaking, we’re on the edge the ground below is shaking we’re on the edge.”

This is definitely something that I normally would never listen to; however, I could not help it, I sang along.