It’s not often that a 17-year-old artist comes out of the gate with “superstar” qualities. Taylor Swift and Lorde come to mind, and now they’re joined by New Zealand artist Emma Wagner, aka emerson. Her last single “You Really Must Hate Me!” had a Sabrina Carpenter-style charm and was a surprise hit on Spotify’s Fresh Finds Pop playlist. Now she’s back with a stunning new single “I Want You To Know Me”.
Over the summer, emerson teamed up with producer Josh Edmonds in his Auckland studio to craft the first version of “I Want You To Know Me”. Later, she worked with Grammy-nominated producer Rory Noble to create a second version of the track—resulting in two unique takes on the same song.
“I Want You to Know Me” is about craving real connection in a world that often values appearances over authenticity. It’s about the frustration of being seen as an object rather than a person – and highlights the tension between wanting to be desired and wanting to be known.
Emerson says, “I wrote this song as a reflection of my own experiences—the moments of questioning, what do you really see when you look at me? Is it just an image, or is it me—my thoughts, my passions, my heart? This song is a message to anyone who’s ever felt like they had to trade a piece of themselves to be loved. It’s a reminder that you don’t have to change, shrink, or strip yourself down to be worthy. If someone really wants you, they should want all of you—beyond the surface.”
emerson chats about her whirlwind debut in the music business with us below.
Is the guitar your main instrument? And what guitarists do you most admire?
Although I started on guitar, I feel like my main instruments are both guitar and piano – especially when it comes to writing. I tend to start on guitar mostly because I write a lot in my bedroom where my two acoustic guitars live (my pink 6-string called Patricia and my 12-string called Jonathaniel). If I ever get stuck when writing on the guitar, I switch to the piano, which is in my living room, and vice versa.
I really admire Mk.gee. His guitar choices and tones are so interesting. With a sound somewhat derivative of The Police, Mk.gee takes old sounds and innovates them, pushing tonal boundaries, or even creating new ones. I’m really inspired by his sound and love borrowing some similar tones and textural elements from his music in my own songs when it comes to production. I also really like baritone guitar. Some songs I like are: “The Price” by Abby Holliday, and “Angie” by Humble The Great. I’ve been writing a lot of new music on baritone guitar.
Why did you decide to do two versions of “I Want You To Know Me” – one with Josh and one with Rory?
Originally, Rockquest paired me with Josh Edmonds to produce the song. The recording was part of the New Zealand On Air grant that came with winning first place at the Smokefree Rockquest National Final. And while I really liked the first version, it wasn’t the vibe I was going for. So I hit up Rory Noble (who I’d been writing with for other artists – he also runs my distribution at WAAVE) to see what he could do with it. We worked on it for a half day at his studio, using the vocals and guitar recordings from Josh’s sessions and reproduced it with the exact vibe I was originally going for. So Rory’s version became the main version, but I still felt the second version would connect with listeners and just offer a different, more musical take on the song. So I decided to release both.
Will you be releasing an EP this year?
No EP this year, just singles. I’m wanting to create a body of work and, for now, I think singles are the way to go.
Do you have any touring plans this year? It seems like a tour of New Zealand and Australia would be the first order of business, but London, L.A. and Nashville would love to hear you, too!
I’ll be touring regionally this year, but I’m wanting to go overseas as soon as I can! Hoping to hop on as a support artist on a tour in Australia/NZ or even the US!
Story: Larry McClain //Photo: Chontalle Musson
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