Em Hoggett

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The message is clear on “What I Want To Say To You”, the brutally raw new EP from Em Hoggett: She was raped. She spoke up. She’s encouraging other survivors to do the same. And donating the net proceeds of her new release to the American charity It’s On Us, founded by Vice President Joe Biden, and Rape Crisis England and Wales to raise awareness and offer assistance for rape survivors.

Vocally, Em’s voice speaks to the vocal passion of Amy Winehouse, lyrical power of Birdy and intensity of Adele. And with gut-crunching, piano-driven chords, haunting melodies and seething lyrics seething through the passion of a musical inferno, “What I Want To Say To You” is a personal journey through hell – from the attack, hatred and feeling of worthlessness to ultimately finding salvation through music to save herself as well as empower other victims to seek help and realize that they’re not alone.

“It was like my body was giving me a message that I had to DO something about it,” Em explains. “I called my mum for advice and she advised I write a letter to my attacker, not necessarily to send, but that getting your feelings out on a page is something that helps many survivors.”

The letter came in the form of a song – a song that would evolve into the four songs that became the EP.           

After suppressing the emotions for years, and still struggling with denial, Em wrote the title track in only 10 minutes. A few days later, she posted the song on social media as a way of letting the experience go, begin the healing process and also to help other survivors feel understood and less alone.

The response was overwhelming. She received touching notes of support from both close friends and strangers who had been through the same experience and felt that the song helped them cope with their trauma.

As Em began to accept what had happened, she became angry. Very. Angry. And not only at the realization of her own attack, but also in response to others who had been attacked. "The resulting song is “Anger”, a raw, natural expression of emotion that was closely followed by "Will It Always Be Like This" as she wondered if the darkness would consume the rest of her life under a painful cloud.

In the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, she composed the final track, “Get Out” to deal with the feeling that an attacker and the experience would always physically live inside her body.

“Music saved me in a moment of utter loss,” Em says.