"Beautiful sleepyhead and the laughing yaks has some of the best, most well written music and gorgeous female vocals ever." Reviewer Magazine. We are freak folk.

14 MP3 Songs
FOLK: Folk Pop, ROCK: Americana



Details:
Emily is an anomaly among musicians, most of whom spend their careers striving for a major label deal. Before she was old enough to vote, a major label was courting Emily, two music publishing companies were competing for the rights to her songs and she was recording with award winning producers. By the time she was legally buying her first drink, however, Emily had decided to choose a different path, and with true indie ethos, packed up and moved from New York, leaving in her wake a lucrative deal from a major label, the renowned producers, recording studios, and a manager. During that period of her life, Emily had been offered everything that most musicians want. Everything except what she, as an artist, needed most: creative control.
Wells, recognized as a child prodigy, is a multi-instrumentalist with a mellifluous, soulful voice, compared by some to Billie Holiday, who consistently creates gorgeous lush sonic landscapes imbued with intelligent and emotive lyrics. Currently living in Los Angeles, Emily, a definitive indie darling with a do-it-yourself attitude, wrote, produced, recorded and mixed Beautiful Sleepyhead and the Laughing Yaks in her own recording studio. On this record, Emily successfully combines her myriad talents to create what is being hailed as her best work to date. The addition of an upright bass player and a drummer compliment the rich musical arrangements that include Emily on guitar, violin, piano, Hammond organ, banjo, xylophones, and glockenspiel.
The 14 dynamic tracks on Beautiful Sleepyhead and the Laughing Yaks give a glimpse of the world through the eyes of someone in love, enraged by war, and filled with questions about choices, religion, and life. On the first track, âMt. Washingtonâ, two lovers decide to take leave of their self-imposed prison cells and in spite of the terror they feel by releasing themselves into the world, they wonder at the beauty of their life together forgetting about âthe mortgage and the end of timeâ, they âblend together like bleeding lips and trust that death will be our dying wishâ. The heartbreakingly sentimental lyrics of â50 Year Love Affairâ take the listener on a poetic journey of two life-long lovers; while âBig Love Lullabyâ sweetly describes the all consuming feelings a parent has for her child whose world keeps getting bigger with each passing day. Understanding the dangers of religion and questioning the Christian doctrine espoused throughout childhood by a family of preachers leads to an attempt to reconcile God with reality on âOh My God I Miss Youâ. Emily sings angelically, âWhat do you do when youâve whittled him down, to nothing but a stone in the barren ground?â âto nothing but a memory from your hometown? I go wild, with possibility; I go wild, with my fragility.â
The creation of Beautiful Sleepyhead and the Laughing Yaks signals an arrival for Emily Wells. She confidently expresses herself and exposes her talents in ways that would not have been possible had she chosen to stay in New York. With this record, Emily makes the most of her strengths as an impassioned songwriter and radiant singer. Her production is warm, rich and textured while still allowing for the loveliness of space in each song. The record is a cohesive collection of dreamscapes seeped in metaphor and savagely beautiful anti-war songs. The final track, âDr. Hubris and His Vile of Turpentineâ inspired by the reclusive Thomas Pynchon, is a self-reflective, banjo laden dithyramb on which Emily confides, âYou had it all along; someday you still donât know youâve got itâ. Beautiful Sleepyhead and the Laughing Yaks proves that Emily Wells has had it all along.

Praise for
Beautiful Sleepyhead and the Laughing Yaks


"BEAUTIFUL SLEEPYHEAD AND THE LAUGHING YAKS has some of the best, most well written music and gorgeous female vocals ever."
-Robert Shamlin, Reviewer Magazine- Nov. âo6


EMILY WELLS, Beautiful Sleepyhead and the Laughing Yaks: Multi-instrumental singer-songwriter Wellsâ resolutely indie music (written, produced, and recorded by Wells in her own studio with bassist Joey Reina and drummer Sam Halterman) should appeal to fans of freak-folk and poetic lyrics that wind outside usual verse-chorus-bridge constructs amidst quirky arrangements of keyboards, xylophone, guitar and violin. Warbling over solo piano, Wells flirts with preciousness on the Joanna Newsom-esque âSupermarket,â but the unvarnished vulnerability of âMy Tin Carâ is genuinely affecting, as is âView From a Blind Eyeâ
-Bliss, Pasadena Weekly- Nov. o6

Emily Wells is an artist to watch out for, and Beautiful Sleepyhead and The Laughing Yaks is a very impressive albumâ¦. Fans of Leonard Cohen, Elliot Smith, Tom Waits, Bright Eyes, Joanna Newsom and others in similar veins will find Wells a pleasurable listenâ¦. Her music is a brand of folk that lies somewhere between country and pop. Production touches include sounds of marimba, xylophone, acoustic bass, piano, brush-hit drums and beautiful harmoniesâ¦.. Highly recommended listening for fans of the new folk.
Left Hip Magazine March 2007



This scarily beautiful CD caught my attention by being low-key, unobtrusive and quietly brilliant⦠ethereal deconstructed tunes with no fluff, no gimmicks, no cliches; how refreshing. There is not a lot of âbigâ sound to the songs within, but the ... [songs] tower over many studio-tweaked albums that are big on sound but small on esthetics... The closest thing I could think of to describe Ms. Wells is like a stripped-down Portishead mixed with a Neil Young/Nick Cave/Nick Drake sensibility.
-KM, Reviewer Magazine- Dec. o6



She pulled me into an etheric embrace and dazzled me with her cleverness, connecting my ears to more dimensions of light than most reveal in music, and curtsied in her denim and petticoats like the ironically nebulous and Earthy pixie that she is⦠What is more, she is a being of integrity, electing the Indie path, over the 'Industry Machine'.
-Dazjae, Purple Magazine- Jan. o7


âEMILY WELLSâ latest album is a perfect blend of poetic lyricism, soulful vocals, and unique arrangements... A multi-instrumentalist capable of carving out her own world, Emily Wells is a definitive indie darling with a do-it-yourself, and follow your heart ethos.â
-Hilary Goldberg, filmmaker & writer
From the Nov. âo6 article for Out on the Net


âImagine if Billie Holiday fronted Portishead with an acoustic guitar and a book of Raymond Carver poems. That's not even close enough, but it's a start.â
-Ratpack Slim, co-creator of Green along with DJ Jedi of the Digable Planets, describing Ms. Wells- Oct 06

"Emily Wells is one of the most famous women I ever met, what with all that sweat and lights, voice and grit, style and talent oozing from her pores. It's
why I stand underneath her at shows. Emily stole my heart when she was 21, because of the way she wears evolution. When I heard this new CD, I became a
jealous ape. Wished I could do that... ya know, translate miracles through music. As the name Emily Wells continues to rise in the music world you're gonna hear comparisons and cross-betweens, but just put down the hyper-analytical muscle-bound brain for a minute, Professor Hipster, shut up, and learn
something. No need to look for things to say about her and this incredible CD. Just listen to the river, and pass it on. Through Emily we get to experience a
rare caliber of grace and quality. I only wish I didn't feel such a deep need for more/all people to be exposed to such things, because last time pure talent
like her happened, it ended in crucifixion."
Buddy Wakefield, 2-Time Individual World Poetry Slam Champion, Expert Witness to the Moon, Strange Famous Records...