New Music: Emma Tea – suffocate

Brooding alt-pop with an incisive indie attitude, suffocate is the latest single from Emma Tea marking the release of her debut EP.

Hitting some dancefloor-friendly moves as it manoeuvres between hyperpop, indie R&B, and a pure pop chorus, suffocate gives the London-based songwriter and singer a thrilling, fierce background on which to dig under the surface of modern life, especially when in the public eye. The lyrics spiral into self-doubt at times; however, Tea refocuses and finds her inner strength, realising that it’s others’ expectations and pressures that are the real issue.

Billie Eilish and Charli xcx are notable influences on the song, though the best comparisons for me would be Noah Cyrus and Alessia Cara: pop-facing music that is vulnerable, vivid, and easy to find yourself within the lyrics.

“My debut EP, everything’s fine, is all about the different ways we pretend we’re okay when we’re not,” she reveals. “Each track explores that from a different angle: putting on a front, dealing with society’s expectations, pretending you don’t ‘like’ someone, or feeling trapped inside your own head.”

“Lyrically, suffocate came from self-doubt and imposter syndrome: that voice picking apart everything you do, and the fear of being seen properly and everyone suddenly realising you’re not who they thought you were.”

Connect with Emma Tea on Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook to learn more about suffocate. The track and previous releases from Tea are streaming on Bandcamp, Spotify, SoundCloud, and Apple Music.

Header image by Coco Widauer