Alex Clements paints in watercolor tones on Emily’s Song, a heartfelt solo piano disc that puts the Alberta-based composer’s graceful melodicism front and center. The title track and “A Song for Ethan,” dedicated to Clements’ children, have a sunny, lilting manner that juxtaposes innocence with inner strength, love of today with hope for the future. The other tracks may have stormier undercurrents or somber overtones, but Clements never abandons that core optimism, and his aching rendition of “I Loves You, Porgy” seems bathed in soft light.
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