Sadly, on 3rd January 2002, Zac Foley, who was bass player with EMF, passed away, in circumstances which are, as yet, unknown. This review is dedicated to Zac.
That news to me was so sad, as I was a huge fan of EMF, right from their first and biggest single, “Unbelievable” , back in 1991. Zac was only 33 and had so much to live for, the band had re-formed last year to play some dates, and following the release of a Greatest Hits, it is understood they were going back in the studio to record new songs.
The debut album from EMF was released in 1991 on EMI, and was welcomed by a fast growing army of fans, who were hooked by that first Unbelievable single. (Which still gets heard often today, and is used with great regularity in adverts and TV trailers!)
The album cover was a unique design, and you can see it above. It’s an oddly drawn outline of a face, in thick black ink, with the EMF logo in the top left.
The EMF sound was interesting in its day, with a clear crossover blended from late 80’s emerging dance and indie guitar. Samples are heavily used throughout, and in fact once got them into trouble with Yoko Ono for utilising a sample of the killer of John Lennon without permission. (track 9 – Lies)
EMF were up against the likes of Jesus Jones, who they sounded vaguely alike to, and other indie pop merchants of the hour such as Carter USM, Neds Atomic Dustbin, and Pop Will Eat Itself. Moving on, here are the tracks on Schubert Dip.
Children. Long Summer Days When You’re Mine Travelling Not Running I Believe Unbelievable Girl Of An Age Admit It Lies Longtime
Standout tracks include; Children – superb intro, and kicks off the EMF sound superbly – swimmingly slow, then straight into banging sirens and then the vocals kick in. “Hold on take your life, hold on to each reality”
Travelling Not Running – introduces itself with an unusual sampled voice, telling a story, then diving into a pacey ballady type of track, blending guitars, keyboards, and the odd scratchy sound! “I’m travelling not running, I don’t like it here”
Unbelievable – Whooa what the f**k was that! Goes the track at frequent intervals throughout! Guitary intro, banging pots and pan noises, and a superb lyric throughout. “The things you say, your purple prose just gives you away”, hey and not forgetting the light attempt at rapping James Atkin does mid track!
A band in a million, who helped me get into the broad church of music that I love so much today. Other albums by EMF were ;
Stigma – on EMI in 1992. .
Cha Cha Cha – on EMI in 1995.
For more info take a look at www.emf-theband.com which has to be one of the most comprehensive official sites by a band.
A thoughtful obituary can be found here; http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=113436
Dedicated to Zac Foley of EMF – B 1970, D 2002.
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Ok, so I might have found this review rather late, but thanks for the memories! I also was a huge fan of the band and had all their albums on vinyl, hence the fact I haven't listened to them in a long time! Think you may have just inspired me to buy them all again in a more modern format! Oh and in response to aek21, I'm not sure that is what EMF stood for! The acronym stood for something totally unprintable on these pages! Clue: It involves a class A drug and a phrase commonly used by Bo Selecta's Michael Jackson character!
julietta 21.02.2002 15:00
Also a fan ... love the album. Inspired reviewing.
PJE_ 20.02.2002 03:16
I hadn't heard about Zac, that's so sad. EMF were a uniquely brilliant band. I remember seeing them do Unbelievable with Tom Jones on some TV show once. Bizarre!
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