A Song For Friday: Emma Swift

Hard-earned wisdom leads to a lush album of original songs. Also: Fruit Bats, Mei Ehara, Led Zeppelin, Kara-Lis Coverdale, Eli Keszler, and Lawrence English

One of the many musical miracles from the year of our pandemic 2020 was that it was a Dylan Year. First stunning us with Murder Most Foul, a 17-minute mic drop encompassing the last 57 years of American history, the man born Robert Zimmerman then delivered his 39th album, the masterpiece he called Rough And Rowdy Ways.

Adding to the celebration of the greatest songwriter of the last 100 years, if not human history, was Blonde On The Tracks, Emma Swift’s gorgeous album of Dylan covers. Astonishingly, among classics like Queen Jane Approximately and Simple Twist Of Fate, Swift applied her gossamer soprano and incisive lyrical engagement to I Contain Multitudes, the first track on Rough And Rowdy Ways. In fact, Swift announced her album with that song, releasing it only weeks after Dylan’s own recording.

Working with Wilco’s Pat Sansone, Swift had started recording Dylan songs in 2017 to help lift her depression and kickstart her out of a dry spell in her own songwriting. It seems to have worked, as this week she released The Resurrection Game, her first album of all original material. It wasn’t an easy journey, however, as in the wake of Blonde On The Tracks, she experienced another mental health crisis. Rather than try to deny what was happening, she felt determined to honor it:

“I believe that there is a space for songs about real pain. In this moment in time, we live in a world where we’re encouraged to anesthetize what ails us by any means possible. But this record is more about spending time with your sadness, of leaning into that sorrow and facing it head-on.” - Emma Swift

I’m so glad she did, as now we have this remarkable record. Like Dylan, Swift can turn a phrase (From No Happy Endings: “Still desperate times/Call for desperate pleasures/And I've never done anything/In half measure.”) But as record makers, they have little in common. Rather than bringing a bunch of songs into the studio and aiming for lightning-in-a-bottle, first-take glory, Swift has written a unified group of steel-spined songs and then surrounded them with lush arrangements, lavishing them with all the care she asks for from the world.

There is dignity and warmth here, not unlike an old album by Dusty Springfield or Peggy Lee. There is also mystery, as in Going Where The Lonely Go, which is taken at an exquisitely slow tempo and is one of the sparer songs on the album, showing off the skills of her core musicians: bassist Eli Beaird, drummer Dom Billet, and, especially, guitarist Juan Solorzano.

The song starts with a fanfare of sorts, just Swift’s voice and Solorzano’s moody chords. “Here I am,” she sings breathily, “Slow dancing ghosts descend.” The drums come in, an inexorable plod that will carry Swift through the song’s tales and troubles. “Lights out now flickering,” she continues, “Any wonder I'm trembling…” As the verse goes on, you realize this is a slow dance for two lonely souls: “The atmosphere, once shadowed/Is oh so clear, bring your lovely self near/ Together we disappear.” Then comes the chorus, followed by a gloriously smeared solo by Solorzano, organ low behind him (played by producer Jordan Lehning), and the bass lending a hand to the drums. Enter the mystery below.

By the time Swift is singing, “I don't want the mess we're in/Just your skin on my skin,” you may start searching for “where the lonely go” on Google Maps. What a rich, lovely collection Swift has given us, filled with hard-earned wisdom and triumph in the face of trauma. Don’t be surprised if Dylan starts covering her.

Listen to most of the songs for Friday here or below.

Also Out This Week

Fruit Bats - Baby Man The first time I saw Eric D. Johnson, who has been performing and recording as Fruit Bats for nearly 30 years, was in a solo performance at Pioneer Works in 2019. But that gutsy, even explosive, set was a world away from the delicate, almost haunting nature of this, his first album recorded in such a stripped-down fashion. On the first couple of listens, I had to remind myself not to imagine the amazing production touches that enriched Johnson’s last two albums, The Pet Parade and A River Running To Your Heart, both of which hit my top 25 in 2021 and 2023. These are not demos, after all, but deeply engaged performances of reflective songs. There’s drama here, too, especially in the swoops and whoops of Johnson’s flexible voice. Keep this warm collection, which includes a cover of First Girl I Loved by The Incredible String Band, close at hand as autumn’s chill enters the air.

Mei Ehara - All About McGuffin Like many, I was introduced to Ehara, a Tokyo-based singer, songwriter, and guitarist, when she joined Faye Webster on the song Overslept in 2022 and then on her tour in 2025, delivering a charming set at Radio City Music Hall. All About McGuffin, her first album since 2020, is full of that signature charm in a set of jazzy pop-rock songs that manage to feel both intimate and intricate. Catch her on her first North American headlining tour, if you can manage to get tickets, that is.

Led Zeppelin - Live EP The performances on this tantalizing four-song release, commemorating the 50th anniversary of Physical Graffiti, will be familiar to anyone who watched the 2003 Led Zeppelin DVD. But I’m not complaining about having audio-only versions of killer takes of In My Time Of Dying, Trampled Under Foot, Sick Again, and Kashmir. OK, I could complain about not getting the full Earls Court (1975) and Knebworth (1979) concerts from which these were drawn. Maybe someday that will happen, but for now we can revel in the intensity of one of the greatest live bands of all time. It’s also nice to have a souvenir that shows how good they still were in 1979. The thrill they deliver in Sick Again when Jimmy Page’s pure lightning of a solo soars over the crowd as John Paul Jones and John Bonham thrash away is just one example of what made them so electrifying on stage.

Kara-Lis Coverdale - A Series Of Actions In A Sphere Of Forever Lovely, contemplative piano solos from a Canadian musician known for her electronic and organ music. This is her second album in 2025, having followed up 2017’s remarkable Grafts with the immersive From Where You Came in May.

Eli Keszler - Pet Shop Days OST More moody and noirish sounds from the percussionist and composer, whose self-titled album from May hit my Best Of 2025 (So Far). The album also includes a smattering of dialogue from the movie, a crime drama directed by Olmo Schnabel (son of Julian), which was originally released in 2023.

Lawrence English - WhiteOut A prolific electronic musician and “honcho” of Room 40, the Australian avant-garde label, English spent time in Antarctica during the summer of 2010. Fifteen years later, he has digested the experience here, incorporating field recordings of animals, aircraft, and the rapidly changing land and water into a mind movie of unique intensity and beauty.

Note: the graphic above is based on a photo by Laura Partain.