CD Review: Emilie Autumn “Fight Like a Girl”

Emilie Autumn
Fight Like a Girl
Producer: Emilie Autumn
Release Date: July 24, 2012
Tracks: 17
Running Time: 62 minutes

Our Score: 4 out of 5 stars

If you are aware of Emilie Autumn and her unique sound, then you are in a real treat for “Fight Like a Girl”. If not then get ready to be blown away. Personally, I was only recently introduced to her music and let me tell you I was immediately hooked. After interviewing Emilie as well you can literally hear her inspiration with each word as she speaks about the music.  The new album is based on her autobiographical novel, “The Asylum for Wayward Victorican Girls”.  “Fight Like a Girl” is far from just a regular rock album and it plays more like a stage musical.  While listening to the album, I could just imagine how each song would be presented on the stage.  Overall a great listening experience and a very mature and revealing album for Autumn. I can’t wait to see it live.

The album kicks off with the title “Fight Like a Girl”, which is purposely pop-like but also very dark.  It is probably the best track on the album and my personal favorite.  It is perfect kick-off for this album.  Following that up is the super energetic “Time for Tea”, which is so intense and catchy that I found myself leaving it on repeat a few times.  Both songs are two of my favorite Autumn songs ever in fact!  The next two tracks really sets up the album for its more theatrical direction, the instrumental “4 o’Clock Reprise” and the quiet ballad “What Will I Remember”.   From here the album really takes off and spread its wings wide open and keeps you guessing with each song.

“Take the Pill” picks up the pace again and is a very heavy and fast-paced track.  “Girls!, Girls!, Girls!” reminds me a burlesque show out of “Moulin Rouge”.  It is very entertaining and fun. “If I Burn” is a slow-burn and shows Autumn’s wonderful vocal range, I could see this song being the next single.  “The Key” is probably the most theatrical track on the album.  I couldn’t stop thinking that it is a mixture of something out “Jekyll and Hyde” meets “Sweeney Todd”. I also really wanted to point out that each song really takes it time and overall the album is well-paced. There are instrumental tracks throughout which gives you time to breath since this is one intense album. We close with “Start Another Story” and “One Foot In Front of the Other”, they are 360 turn from “Fight Like a Girl” but is a great ending to the album’s story.

The album has been described as “an operatic feminist treatise set inside an insane asylum, wherein the female inmates gradually realize their own strength in numbers.”   journey.  Each song merges perfectly with the next and really blends well as an album.  It has been a while since Autumn’s last album “Opheliac” but it is definitely worth the wait.  She has seemed to have really poured her heart and soul into this album and her lyrics are sometimes brutal but honest.  She is a really great storyteller and I would have to say that this is one her best albums to date. Emilie Autumn will be following the release of “Fight Like A Girl” with a US tour which begins in September. Be sure not to miss this tour as it is sure to be one hell of an event.

Track Listing:
Fight Like A Girl
Time For Tea
4 O’Clock Reprise
What Will I Remember
Take The Pill
Girls! Girls! Girls!
I Don’t Understand
We Want Them Young
If I Burn
Scavenger
Gaslight
The Key
Hell Is Empty
Gaslight Reprise
Goodnight, Sweet Ladies
Start Another Story
One Foot In Front Of The Other