Jersey City, Hoboken musician Val Emmich reaches landmark with new album 'Aide Memoire' Published: Tuesday, November 08, 2011, 3:20 PM By Summer Dawn Hortillosa / The Jersey Journal Jersey City musician Val Emmich performed tracks off his new album, "Aide Memoire" at Paul Vincent Studios, 49 Harrison St., Hoboken, on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2011. (Virginia Kamenitzer photo) Jersey City musician Val Emmich isn't the same. Emmich's new album, "Aide Memoire," for which he recently held a release party at Paul Vincent Studios, 49 Harrison St., in his former hometown Hoboken, is a raw portrait of a man looking back at his life while getting ready for what's to come. "I just had a kid, so that's kind of a landmark," said Emmich, who welcomed a new daughter in March. "It was my impending fear of becoming a father that made me look back at my own childhood and look towards the future." The result was 10 songs that the Maxwell's favorite described as more intense, honest and serious than anything he's done before. "It starts off with 'When I Grow Up,' about a young child looking at his future and the things he might do," he said, adding that the rest of the album journeys into the child's future. "It was a chance to look back and be in the moment - those are two things I struggle with," said Emmich. The artist said he purposely walked away from songwriting conventions like the three-minute pop song and recorded the album live with his band The Veeries to keep "Aide Memoire," which was funded by fans through fundraising website Kickstarter, fresh and immediate. "It seems to be getting to a more visceral place," he said of "Aide Memoire." "People are getting emotional over it - I got emotional over it, which is kind of embarrassing to say because it's my own music but I never thought of it as so pure before," said Emmich. "It didn't matter who heard the damn thing, I just got into my own world." Emmich will perform on Nov. 18 at the Gramercy Theater in New York City. For more information, or to purchase "Aide Memoire," visit www.ValEmmich.com. Check out "Wooly Mammoths" from "Aide Memorie" by Val Emmich: