Petersen, Eva with Will Sergeant - Emerald Green Eyes

Eva Petersen’s 2012 debut solo album, Emerald Green Eyes, is finally receiving the recognition it deserves as a hidden gem of Liverpool’s rich psychedelic heritage.

Recorded in locations including a former Cold War military listening unit, the album features Eva’s stark vocals— with influences from far afield as Dusty Springfield, Scott Walker, and Siouxsie Sioux— and spans eight tracks; five co-written with Echo & the Bunnymen guitarist Will Sergeant, plus collaborations with Guy Chambers and Alfie Skelly, and a haunting cover of the Velvet Underground’s “Femme Fatale.”

Will Sergeant, who produced the record, hailed Eva as “the greatest singer to come out of Liverpool in the 21st century.” Despite limited initial attention upon release, the album’s preternaturally cool sound has endured and grown in stature.

“Working with Will was the beginning of everything for me,” Eva reflects. “We created this dream-like world together, and it set the foundation for my later work, including my PhD project Voices of Winter Palace with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra.”

A lost classic now ripe for rediscovery, Emerald Green Eyes stands as a testament to both the city it was created in and the other, imagined worlds contained in the timeless songs.