Emerson Releases Second Single ‘Carry Me Home From the Car’ – a Play it Strange Peace Song Finalist

Following her wins at the Smokefree Rockquest National Final, where she placed first in the Solo-Duo category, and where her debut single Bored won the ZM Best Song Award, Emerson is back with her second single, Carry Me Home From the Car. The track is now available on all major streaming platforms.

Listen to Carry Me Home From the Car here

Carry Me Home From the Car is a poignant, reflective track that draws on a childhood memory – pretending to be asleep after a car ride in order to be carried inside – as a metaphor for the reluctance to grow up, a feeling familiar to many people. The lyrics capture the bittersweet feeling of time passing and childhood beginning to appear in the rearview mirror. “Carry me home from the car/I know it’s close but it feels so far.” This theme is echoed in the cover art, featuring Emerson (at 3 years old) asleep in a booster seat. The song also touches on societal pressures, with lines like “all obsessed with vanity, slowly losing sanity,” reflecting the disillusionment many people feel in today’s world. She sums up this sentiment with, “I thought what mattered was on the inside, but now I’m feeling left behind.” The song closes with a nostalgic, childlike voice: “I’ll pretend to sleep, so you’ll carry me.”

A finalist in the 2024 Play it Strange Peace Song Competition, the song’s production is made possible by Play it Strange. It was Produced by Eli Le Fevre and mixed and mastered by Andrew Isdale (Katchafire, Reiki), the song highlights Emerson’s evolving artistry.

“This song helped me voice my fears,” Emerson says, “and I hope it finds and comforts people who feel the same.”

Emerson is a 17-year-old indie-pop-folk artist from Auckland, New Zealand. Her songwriting features catchy melodies and lyrics that are highly relatable to her teen audience, and traverses multiple genres including folk, pop, hints of alternative R&B and dance. Her lyrics explore themes like self-love, self-hate, unhealthy relationships, and growing up. Her live performance is a standout with her emotive vocals and her tight backing band which includes Liam Beasley on guitar and Elliott Borland on drums.