Pottermore debuts ‘Fantastic Beasts’ jazz track ‘Blind Pig’ and talks to singer, Emmi

Pottermore have debuted the jazz song Blind Pig just before the film’s release. The track comes from a scene set in the seedy 1920s wizard speakeasy, and Pottermore have just released an interview with singer, Emmi!

The voice of the goblin singer in the film is sultry and strong, singing lyrics written by J.K. Rowling and Mario Grigorov, and conjuring whisps in the shape of unicorns, phoenixes and billywigs.

The song is performed by jazz singer Emmi, who had no idea what The Bling Pig was until the film’s trailer was released:

‘I knew the song was called ‘Blind Pig’ but I had no idea why, because there’s no mention of a pig in it,’ she said. ‘I now know it’s because that’s the name of the speakeasy, but I found that fact out online like everybody else. I thought it was some codename to cover up what the song was about. It’s been like a hilarious mystery.’

Photo from Pottermore

Of course Emmi thinks the soundtrack was amazing, and watching James Newton’s theme song for the film come to life was a little too much for her:

‘The recording was amazing,’ she told me. ‘I cry when I hear a cello, so it was just too much for me. The music is just stunning in the movie. Men like James are superhuman to me; writing dots on a page and bringing it to life. Every moment of the film has so much knowledge and passion poured into it. I was flying for a week afterwards because that’s what I want to be part of: creating something that lifts you up in the world.’

According to an interview with Pottermore, Emmi found out she’d be in the soundtrack in 2015, when she got an email from Peter at Abbey Road Studios, whilst on holiday with her family:

 ‘Peter said, “Here are the lyrics, record them for me and don’t show anyone.” I was on holiday so I nearly said no but he said, “Emmi, I’d politely advise you not to turn this down.” 

‘I got the lyrics and I noticed words like Hippogriff, Phoenix and Billywig. I Googled them and thought, “These are creatures from J.K. Rowling’s writing – whatever this is, I’m in!”’

‘Blind Pig’ lyrics by JK Rowling ?#lyrics #blindpig #jkrowling #fantasticbeasts #song pic.twitter.com/AJrJhrQXwD

— Emmi (@emmimusic) November 18, 2016

She was briefed to be ‘jazzy and magical’, and hid from her friends and family in her room to record the track that very same night – which ended up being the final version in the film!:

‘I recorded it in my bedroom and I think that’s what’s gone into the movie – I never re-recorded it,’ said Emmi. ‘I sent it off, they said thanks very much and it would be nearly a year before I heard anything else about it. I worked out that it was for the movie, but we have this saying in music: “It’s not final until it’s final.” My thinking was just, if this really has J.K. Rowling attached to it, then this is the best thing that’s ever happened to me, ever. I can basically die happy now.’

On the pressure of being part of such an amazing soundtrack:

“I’m just so happy I didn’t know much for a while because I think every part of the process would have freaked me out, if I’d known. If I’d really known that on the other end of that Skype call – listening to that take of the song, where I’m laughing and saying, “Sorry, sorry” – was J.K. Rowling and David Yates listening, I probably wouldn’t have been able to do it. Maybe it’s better not to be prepared for these things – it’s just so much bigger than you and bigger than you can imagine.”

We’re thrilled to debut ‘Blind Pig’ from #FantasticBeasts performed by Emmi with lyrics by @jk_rowling. Listen here: https://t.co/7ynIsXbwMh pic.twitter.com/qak9SwxcGI

— Pottermore (@pottermore) November 17, 2016

Read the full interview with Emmi here, and listen to the track below!