Sometimes, creating a pop hit is a lot like being an air traffic controller. You align everything correctly so that the plane or single lands as deftly as it soared when it first took off. Fortunately, Emland, a pop singer born in Ahlen, Germany but now calling Mallorca, Spain home, has melded his skillset as an air traffic controller at Spain’s Palma de Mallorca airport with his pop sensibilities. The result is the stylish “Better Off Without Me,” the latest single from his album EVOLVE set for release next year.
Emland says “Better Off Without Me,” the first song Emland produced but the last song written for EVOLVE, originated after a challenging phase in his life: “a deeply painful breakup.” After questioning himself and everything around him, Emland found himself crossing paths with someone he “felt a deep connection with.” But with the pain of the breakup still fresh, the new relationship was prevented from possibly developing into something special.
“I just felt empty,” he says. “My battery was too low. I did not have the energy that I needed to make that new story grow, to make it happen. ‘Better Off Without Me’ speaks about exactly that. It’s a song that, basically, is an apology — it says sorry. I just tried to be 100% sincere and only thought about what I wanted that person to know and hear. When you’re brave enough to really open up, that’s where the magic happens. I think that’s what happened in and with this song.”
“Better Off Without Me” opens a dramatic synth intro before Emland begins singing over a sugary, atmospheric array of smart ’80s-styled synth pop. Although leading into what sounds like an EDM or dance-leaning chorus that could make the song explode, Emland gently brings it back down to its sweet spot. Fans of Owl City, Fun., and Robyn would enjoy “Better Off Without Me” as Emland creates a compact piece of synth pop that is also quite soulful and addictive.
“Better Off Without Me” is the second single released by Emland following “Fighters” earlier in 2024, both of which will be on EVOLVE. The artist says the album is anchored in the concept of what love means to Emland. “EVOLVE will feature eight songs — each one of them circling around the idea of love from a different perspective, from places where I have been during this process. Words can’t explain how much this album helped me to heal. It made me a new me.”
Born and raised in Ahlen, Germany to Spanish parents, Emland began playing piano early and always had a deep affinity to the instrument. At age 16, tragedy struck when his mother died and his father decided to relocate the family back to Spain. Depressed from the adjustment in relocating, the language barrier in a new country and grieving for his mom, Emland turned to music as a source of solace. “Every single time I sat down and played, it was just like a way to escape from where I was, he says. “It was so liberating. A peaceful place. Freedom. Somehow, it just brought back light.”
With songwriting and producing becoming second nature to him, Emland moved from piano to synthesizers and digital audio workstations (DAWs). He says the process for music is similar to his day job as an air traffic controller. “At the end, both things I do are very creative,” he says. “An air traffic sequence is a little bit like an orchestra playing. The controller and the conductor really work in a similar way. I find that quite fascinating, and I am deeply grateful for being allowed to work in both of these beautiful worlds.”
Now with “Better Off Without Me” and a forthcoming studio album in EVOLVE, the sky’s the limit for Emland.
