Ōtautahi-based alt-pop artist, producer and 2025 APRA Silver Scroll Nominee Emily C. Browning releases her long-awaited and hotly-anticipated debut album, PRIMARY.
The 11-track record is the product of five years of independent production and songwriting, making a confident arrival after months of steady momentum and a string of compelling single releases.
Drawing its title from multiple definitions, PRIMARY plays on several meanings - Browning’s emotional directness, her first album release, and a strong visual identity shaped by primary colours. Known for her red hair and unfiltered lyrics, Browning builds a world that’s part confessional, part drag performance.
“After dying my hair red, I let go of the softie image and finally embodied the Aries I was meant to be. Now I guess I’m yelling ‘STILL MAD AND I’M NOT DONE TALKING YET’ into the mic,” she says, lifting a line from her single “Not Done.”
Over the past year, Browning has released one track per month; a process that helped sharpen the album’s pacing and purpose. Recent singles ‘Not Done’, ‘Analog’and Silver Scroll nominated ‘Goldfish’, showcase her persistent tenacity and instincts as a producer, while earlier releases ‘I Wasn’t Into You Anyway’ and ‘Andy’, define the start of Browning’s desire to take the reins with her sound and songwriting.
The songs explore love, annoyance, crushes, rejection and the highs and lows of obsession - all delivered with theatrical clarity and sharp pop instincts.
From then to now, PRIMARY captures the growth of an artist learning in real time. “I used the pandemic to learn how to produce for myself, and PRIMARY is a very honest record of that process.”
A ONE NIGHT ONLY album release show will take place at Space Academy, Christchurch, on July 24. Expect theatrical sets, dramatic outfits, and possibly a PowerPoint.