New Interview: Emma Bradley
New Interview: Emma Bradley British singer-songwriter Emma Bradley has never shied away from vulnerability, but her latest EP, Winona’s World, marks a bold new chapter—one that embraces shadow, solitude, and self-definition. Inspired by sonic auteurs like Imogen Heap, James Blake, Bon Iver, and Danny Elfman, Winona’s World is a cinematic, emotionally charged journey through themes of abandonment, queerness, mental struggle, and bittersweet memory. 19 May 2025 By Isaac Phelan Currently Listening to: What began as a reckoning with artistic identity—intense enough that Emma briefly considered changing her name—transformed into the creation of Winona, a fictional alter ego who gives voice to her darker emotions. Through this character, Emma explores the parts of herself often hidden or “swept under the rug,” using music as both refuge and revelation. Self-produced and independently released, the EP not only showcases Emma’s evolution as a musician but also marks her reclamation of creative control. I sat down with Emma to talk about the making of Winona’s World, building sound from silence, and why stepping fully into her own name — and voice — might be the most radical act of all. Winona’s World emerged from a deeply introspective period where you considered creating an entirely new persona. Can you share more about what sparked this urge and how you eventually reconciled with staying true to Emma Bradley? I made this EP honestly nearly by accident. I was in a very strange place where I felt really creatively uninspired, and nothing I made was feeling good to me. I was also pretty burnt out. I started messing around on my laptop and writing in a really different way from how I’ve previously approached making music, and that somehow triggered such a different sonic. When I had finished the final demos of the project, I felt a bit like… this was a big departure from the music I had out, but also this feels like music I’ve always wanted to make. It felt too different to my other music at first and also felt a bit too vulnerable, so I decided to release it anonymously under another name, ‘Winona’. She’s like my shadow, and I gave her all the darker feelings that I had carried around and had followed me in my life. I sat with it for months and months and got really close to releasing it as a side project. But after playing the music to some people and seeing the reaction, I was like wait, I am really proud of what I made and I want to own that. People were like ‘Emma don’t be stupid, you have to release this yourself’, I’m glad I listened to them. The EP explores themes described as “shadows of a feeling”—emotions often neglected or suppressed. How did immersing yourself in these emotions impact you personally and creatively? I think giving myself the space to be entirely honest with myself was very freeing and healing. I think I was too scared to go there in my music previously. But music has always been how I process things, and making music alone like this really allowed me to do it fearlessly without thinking ‘ah, is my co-writer gonna think this or that about me’. I tackled some topics on this project that I definitely wouldn’t have felt comfortable really delving into in a writing session, to be honest. The whole process has made me feel a lot more confident in myself and how I want to express things / how my own ideas for production and writing are just as good as anyone else’s ideas. ‘That Door’ is improvised, actually, I’m pretty sure the final vocal on there is literally the first thing that came out of my mouth when I hit record. So yeah, the whole thing was definitely intimate haha. In creating the alternate world inhabited by Winona, did you find yourself drawing from fictional inspirations or real-life experiences more heavily? I have been hugely inspired by Tim Burton films for my entire life. Alongside that, I’ve always been drawn to magical, eerie films like Coraline, E.T. and Donnie Darko etc. Those films are kind of my creative blueprint. I learnt piano by listening to film scores until I could play them. So I definitely was drawing from those worlds when I was making this project. It’s all super abstract but the actual meaning behind the songs is very rooted in and inspired by my real-life experiences. So I guess it’s a mixture of both. You mention artists like James Blake, Imogen Heap, Bon Iver, and Danny Elfman as influences. How did these influences guide the evolution of your sonic style on this EP? I am such a massive fan of all of those artists and I think I had just listened to their work on repeat especially during the time I made this EP so it felt like accessing that influence came quite subconsciously. Danny Elfman is a big one, especially on Bad Apple. I wanted that song to feel like a film score. His work makes me feel everything. Also, the plug-in I used on my vocals throughout the project was very Imogen Heap / James Blake / Bon Iver inspired. I never really want autotune on my vocals when I make more singer songwritery music but for this, it felt like it was just part of it and it kind of sets the scene sonically. I think all of those artists are just really unafraid to do something different and it made me not overthink my choices when I was writing. Like not once did I think ‘Is this too weird?’, I just sort of rolled with it and it was a lot of fun. Departing from your label and management to produce independently sounds both liberating and daunting. What were the biggest creative challenges you faced, and how did overcoming them shape your music? Honestly, creatively I didn’t really feel any challenges. I sort of just did my own thing and didn’t