5 Reasons You Should Listen to ‘Emerald Spy’ by Annika Zee
- Louise Clark
- Sep 15
- 2 min read
Annika Zee’s Emerald Spy isn’t just another album release—it’s a bold reimagining of what pop music can be. The Toronto-born artist has stitched together a record that’s as daring as it is beautiful, blending nostalgia, politics, and radical tenderness into a sonic experience that defies easy categorization. Whether you come for the hooks, the ideas, or the world-building, Emerald Spy rewards you with a listening journey that lingers long after the final track. Here are five reasons you need to hear it:
It reinvents pop’s potential.
Zee refuses to treat pop as disposable. Instead, she bends the genre into new shapes—glitchy ambient textures, 90s shimmer, and improvisational experiments all coexist, creating a sound that feels familiar yet unlike anything else out right now.
The lyrics cut deep.
From “Puppet,” inspired by Malcolm X, to “As They Call,” a haunting meditation on reparations, the album tackles identity, power, and resistance without sacrificing artistry. Even the dreamier moments, like “Wondering,” carry a sharp political edge.
Collaboration fuels the creativity.
One of the album’s standout tracks, “Can You,” was crafted with Will Smith at Jamie xx’s Octave Studio in London. Instead of leaning on celebrity, Zee transforms the collaboration into a surreal, improvisational dialogue about intimacy and power dynamics.
It’s emotionally resonant.
Emerald Spy isn’t just cerebral—it’s visceral. “I’m Dead” pierces through stereotypes with biting clarity, while “Can’t Hear You” captures the chaos of fame culture and social media saturation. The album asks you to feel as much as think.
It points toward the future.
At its heart, the record is about reimagining what community, technology, and art could look like if rooted in memory, resistance, and radical tenderness. It offers a vision that’s hopeful without being naïve—an urgent soundtrack for the digital age.
