A new fusion sound is pushing the genre barriers. Trip-Hop, Soul and Pop undertones permeate current fresh Indie music, written to communicate vivid emotional experience. Emma Arden is a classically trained singer who co-writes songs with the guitarist MaW, also a member of the London-based music collective, EmCave. Emma’s early operatic career enables her to bring a range, depth and timbre to work that couldn’t be more different today in tone and approach. Her influences are wide and include Jill Scott, Portishead, The Cure and the Cocteau Twins. “I reached a point where I wanted to explore a new kind of music”, she says, “and it’s so exciting to explore wider musical influences and develop new ways of working, this time focusing on personal experience, raw emotion and aching vulnerability rather than through the beautiful dignity of Opera”. Her music collective, EmCave, is populated by singers, musicians, technicians and producers who work on their own projects as well as with colleagues from the collective. This way of working allows flexibility as well as maximising creative control. Her music video for the single Tongue Tied, currently on YouTube, was nominated for an award. The director animated all the original vintage photos to tell the song’s love story in an innovative and quirky way. The video includes a subtle cameo of the band members, illustrated by MaW, also animated by the director.