After years of writing songs and crafting a vessel to contain them, lucky break’s Emma Gerson has arrived at Made It! (Fire). Raised in the Bay Area on ’90s alt-rock and indie pop, Gerson has coopted lucky break as both alter ego and emotional conduit. Her striking debut feeds off the impassioned candor of Fiona Apple, the Americana instincts of Ismay and the dreamy introspection of Bedouine.
With some songs that date to Gerson’s teen years, Made It! chronicles that crucial crossover period from adolescence into adulthood that kickstarts the gradual process of learning to advocate for yourself. Working with friend and co-producer Elliott Woodbridge in Los Angeles, Gerson tracked the acoustic-guitar parts herself while Woodbridge handled the remaining instrumentation. The LP was mixed and mastered by Grammy-nominated engineer Jessica Thompson (Margo Guryan, X-Cetra, Erroll Garner).
“I solidified the sound by blending everything I grew up listening to: Pavement, Liz Phair, Lucinda Williams, John Prine, Joni Mitchell,” says Gerson. “The album captures my life as I was going through major transitions, finding my inner compass and figuring out how to live in alignment with my values.”
Here’s Gerson’s full breakdown of the LP.
—Hobart Rowland
1) “Big Swing”
“For some reason, Elliott and I recorded this in my apartment in San Francisco rather than the studio. That morning, I’d gotten into a teary fight with my boyfriend at the time, and I was sick with a cold. You can still hear a little bit of that stuffy nose in the recording.”
2) “Burning String”
“The music video for this song was the first lucky break music video ever made. I did it with my long-time creative partner, Margaret Elle, one of the greatest friends I’ve ever had. We made it in my old apartment back in Santa Monica. This song is a little snapshot of the girl I was at 21.”
3) “Camp Song”
“I was working at a summer camp when I wrote this during my one night off. I’d written it out loud, just walking through the woods alone. Then I went back to my room to get it down.”
4) “City Lights”
“There’s an alley behind an ice-cream store about two blocks from my dad’s house where Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady used to live. When I was a kid, we’d get ice cream and just stand in front of the house, trying to breathe some of the same air, get a little spark of their genius through some kind of spiritual osmosis. My heroes when I was little were writers. I think a lot of this has to do with the literary community of San Francisco and the work of the independent bookstores there. This song refers to City Lights Bookstore, but it’s important to also mention my other faves: Dog Eared Books, The Booksmith and Russian Hill Bookstore.”
5) “Crush”
“This song is 100-percent a true story from start to finish.”
6) “Darklight”
“I wrote this in the Redwoods at a different summer camp. When I finished writing it, a giant young elk was standing there—he’d been listening the whole time. He was the first audience for this song.”
7) “Head Down”
“When I was in middle school, I’d wear music like armor before stepping onto campus. I imagine this song being like that, but for anybody who needs it.”
8) “If People Could Fly”
“A love song that’s also a beach song. I’m aware that ‘noon-shine’ is not a word, but I still used it. I don’t believe in rules.”
9) “Pictures Of Herself”
“I wrote this song about an hour before going into the studio. I just had this feeling the album needed a quick banger. It’s one of my personal favorites.”
10) “Red Balloon”
“I wrote this song my senior year of college, when I was 19. There’d been nine straight months of pouring rain in Berkeley, and I was just completely sick of it. I wanted the weather to change—I wanted the world to change. This song did that for me in many ways, and I love that it stays relevant in all seasons of my life.”
10) “Spinning Cup”
“This song lyrically references Neil Young’s ‘Sugar Mountain’ because I wrote it when I was scared about turning 20. His song goes, ‘You can’t be 20 on Sugar Mountain.’ This song is my response … ‘Why not?’ This whole album is about leaving Sugar Mountain. I really went kicking and screaming.”
