PHOTOS CATERINA SALVI
The first time I heard Emma Morton And The Graces’ cover of Bob Dylan’s 1966 track I Want You, it floored me. So visceral, so raw, and so full of longing, I immediately sought out every other track I could. Soon she was with me everywhere I went. Having Emma in my ears at work, on the train, or cycling through the Scottish countryside, I knew I had to find out more about this woman who’d so quickly crowbarred her way into my heart and my head. It’s a good thing you can’t wear out Spotify like you can a record or cassette, really, because I’d be fucked.
A few months later, I’m perched on a stool in a coffee shop on Edinburgh’s Castle Street when Emma walks in, all intoxicating green eyes and floppy hair. I’m slightly taken aback, as she looks nothing like she does in the promo pictures for the band’s debut album, Bitten By The Devil, released in 2018. She smiles, gesturing to the CD she’s just given me. “It’s funny, I always refer to these as my slave clothes. Having to appear to be what I thought would be right.” “It’s amazing how something as simple as a haircut can completely change a person,” I say, thinking of Jill Soloway, Sara Ramirez or Lena Waithe. She runs a hand through her barnet, smiling. “I actually feel like myself for the first time.”