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It doesn’t always track that your first album is almost a decade post your first release, but as the cliches always allow, sometimes that wait is lively and worth it. In Human Human, Chicago-based Emily Nichols, better known as Carlile, takes slivers of her past efforts and builds a crystal cast of pop delight, a prism of unobvious but excellent surprises, burying sweet lyrics and melodies in off-kilter arrangements that keep you endlessly replaying to source it all out. After all that time creating, how could we appropriately surmise? Well, we can’t and we shouldn't, so we went to the singer and producer herself to give us the proper check-in on all the feelings that went into this impressive debut effort.

OnesToWatch: Who is Carlile?   

Carlile: This question always feels a bit difficult to answer. I think the expectation when someone is making pop music is that the stage name represents some kind of alter ego. But for me, Carlile (which is my middle name) is just an extension of myself. It’s my opportunity to express myself freely and openly, without shame. 

What is Human Human all about? 

Human Human is an exploration of emotion through song. I wrote this record through a long and intense period of change. My relationship had ended, I was losing friends, I was moving across the country (twice). I was facing a lot alone and this album was a landing place for processing the big feelings that came along with such immense change. My hope for this album is to provide space for others to do the same. To feel their feelings honestly and without hinges.

We love your mysterious, synth sound, how did you settle on it for the album?  

To be quite honest, I was just making what felt good. I draw a lot of influence from 2000s pop and electronic music, so I suppose it’s subconsciously informed the choices I make as a producer. I’m still learning a lot in that role, so many of the choices were made simply out of circumstance. What can I make with my limited knowledge and skills? What feels good and what serves the song?

Any collaborations or features? Who produced the album? 

I was fortunate enough to gather the help of some phenomenal Chicago-based artists for this record. Neal Francis plays synths on two of the songs, Macie Stewart (Finom) plays guitar on “Life Of The Party” and my personal favorite collaboration was with Avery Knific and Theo Espy. Avery arranged the strings for “As I Am” and Theo played them. There are a handful of additional featured artists and I would urge listeners to read the liner notes.  

The record is co-produced by myself and Noam Wallenberg. I would get the songs and arrangements to a place that felt complete, and would then bring them to Noam’s desk where we would shape the sounds. We replaced software synths with the Juno, deepened the drum production with percussion, and subtracted any unnecessary pieces. Noam is a master at serving the song so I never felt like my contributions as a producer and as the songwriter were being overlooked. We also co-produced “As I Am” with Joey Meland (Cocojoey). 

How do you go about track selection? Did you have lots of songs to narrow down?  

I tend only to finish songs I plan to release, and only write when I feel inspired, so I don’t have a big bank of songs to choose from at any given moment. I had 11 songs I’d completed and it finally occurred to me that this would be an album. We scrapped one song that I still perform live but will probably never release. The remaining songs cover a wide range of topics but were all anchored in my journey as a producer, so I think the thread that most tightly pulls these songs together is the production. 

What does the future look like for you? 

Writing more. My hope for the future is to write for and with artists other than myself. I’ll also be hunkering down this winter and starting my second album.

 Besides this excellent album, what else should we be on the lookout for? 

I’m playing my album release show at the gorgeous Epiphany Center for the Arts in Chicago. It’s an old church turned events space. Since this album is all about feeling your feelings I wanted the space for the release show to be evocative in and of itself. Besides the release show, I would highly encourage people to watch the music videos and visualizers. All four were directed by an incredible Chicago-based artist Aliya Haq.

What's inspiring you right now outside of music? 

My garden. I grow a massive vegetable garden on my roof and it’s the only thing I can do with a silent mind. That silence inspires me more than anything.

Food or drink best suited to enjoying your work? 

Well, when I’m enjoying it the beverage of choice is coffee. But I think it would pair well with whatever makes the listener feel most like themself.

Who are your OnesToWatch? 

I’ve been hung up on Javier Reyes’ new album How’s Javi? We played a show together in July and his album has been on repeat since. I also think Cocojoey is making totally one-of-a-kind music and it should be on everyone’s radar.