London-based singer-songwriter Emma Bradley delivers a sublime new tune ‘Burning Trees’ via tmwrk. ‘Burning Trees’ is Emma’s most soulful and intense presentation yet, featuring honey-soaked, impassioned layered vocals that chronicle a tale of staying reticent about her feelings, for fear of further fanning the flames of a once passionate, now destructive and abusive relationship. This is the third single from Emma, and the last teaser before the release of her Grow or Die EP on February 3, following on from the heart-wrenching ‘Square One’ and empowering ‘Renew Me’.

Emma opens up about the track, stating, “I wrote ‘Burning Trees’ about being in an emotionally abusive relationship. The lyrics are probably my favourite lyrics I have ever written. I wanted to write a song that felt like I was really telling a story, so they are super cinematic and dramatic. I drew lots of inspiration from Killing Eve and true crime shows; the whole song describes a chase between two people. The narrator is constantly putting out fires and treading on eggshells around their partner, trying to keep them appeased to stay safe. ‘When I tell you that I love you I just don’t want to provoke you’, the narrator has clocked on to the abusive behaviour and is trying to escape.”

She further expresses making this song was an act of catharsis for her, saying, “Writing the song really helped me make sense of and be able to talk about an experience that was incredibly confusing emotionally. It also unlocked a part of my sound that I’d been trying to bring out for so long and that was really cool for me.”