Wow! What would happen if Patti Smith and Avril Lavigne fell into a blender? You’d get Emma Dilemma, that’s what!

With one of the most in-your-face releases I’ve come across recently in new single Libra, Ōtautahi native but Los Angeles based Emma has a brash sound that concords out of the headphones, giving you the most party-filled girl-power anthem of 2024. With it’s emo-pop punk style vocal melody and delivery, to the rocky guitars and the thudding bottom end, this smacks single of the year for any Hen’s Night (Bachelorette Party, for our North American continent-based readers), or ladies night in clubland.

I love anything to do with strong female personalities who are unafraid to simply be who they are, and Emma is certainly in this category. It’s never made sense to me to fear this. Embrace it, and tag along for the ride. Enjoy what people can do when they tear off the anachronistic opining of irrelevant grey entities. For example, as Emma herself says in the EPK: “My 9-year relationship came to an end in April and I realised I could do whatever I wanted; so I did something for me and after spending 3 weeks in Bali for a friends’ wedding, I decided to head to LA for a few months! I’m here to play shows and meet other artists and just have some new experiences that I haven’t been able to have before – and it feels great!” Kia Kaha to you for that sister.

We have a highly entertaining video, controlled chaos in and around the pool of legendary Drag Queen Trixie Mattel‘s Trixie motel in Palm Springs, and in downtown LA where Emma performs direct to the camera against a nicely appropriate urban backdrop. It’s on YouTube, so go check it. Again worded best by Emma in the EPK: “If this song were a colour, it would be a violent candy pink so I wanted a video that embodied the vivid energy and spirited vibe conveyed in Libra, and it fulfils the brief perfectly.”

Despite its rockiness, this single can sit easily on commercial pop radio. It’s got an infectious chant that’s going to be so popular this summer, and a melody that’s punky yet catchy. Overall a highly commercially savvy release, and I see this continuing Emma Dilemma‘s success story as she burgeons into a major star.

CAN’T DATE A LIBRA!… frikking cool!