Emma Bale

Belgian vocalist Emma Bale first attracted widespread notice through her participation in the 2014 Flemish edition of The Voice Kids, where her fragile delivery and atmospheric pop aesthetic quickly stood out. The exposure led to commercial traction and an MTV Europe Music Award for her 2015 EP My World Untouched. After the success of singles such as “Run” and “Fortune Cookie,” she issued her first full-length project, the 2021 album Retrospect.

Born Emma Balemans in Belgium in 1999, she began performing as a child, drawing early motivation from Rihanna, Beyoncé, and Michael Jackson. Her tastes later broadened to encompass Florence Welch and Dua Lipa, shaping a more expansive approach. The semifinals appearance on The Voice Kids in 2014 brought her to a national audience; that same year she issued her debut single, a rendition of Kodaline’s “All I Want,” which reached the Top Ten in both Belgium and the Netherlands. The track appeared on the Hans Francken–produced EP My World Untouched, which also featured the aforementioned hits, one of them a collaboration with Milow. Chart momentum earned her the Best Belgian Act prize at the 2016 MTV Europe Music Awards. Retrospect arrived in 2021, revealing a refined synth-pop sensibility.