Singer's tribute to much-loved brother after brain tumour death

Singer/songwriter Emily Sambrook, who works at Mocha in Streetly, has released ‘Just Fine’ which includes lyrics of how she felt when her brother Ben passed away due to a brain tumour.

The song begins with the line ‘Every broken heart still beats’ which Emily found in notes written as an 11-year-old after Ben's passing.

"Ben was my best friend," said Emily, 18. "He discovered he had a brain tumour when I was four so it was something we always knew about and lived with. He was seven at the time.

"He had it a year and was called the Miracle Boy because he had an adult size tumour but was free of it after a year.

"He had five years clear of it and we did a lot of stuff during that time, we never missed out.

"But at 12, he was diagnosed again and passed away at 14.

"It was devastating. He lit up a room when he walked into it.

"I'm quite loud and confident now but it definitely came from him.

"He wasn't the cool kid, but everyone wanted to be his friend and hang around with him.

"He had a fun personality. I look back and he went through hell with chemotherapy and radiotherapy and yet he remained the life of the party.

"The way he held it all together, that in itself was just incredible.

"So whenever I write, there's always a connotation back to Ben."

Emily co-produced ‘Just Fine’ with fellow producer Sam Berry.

After Sam contacted Emily during the first lockdown in 2020 through Instagram to collaborate, they created a multitude of singles over Zoom and in the studio – all set to release throughout the year.

"It's very exciting," Emily added. "It was written in August 2019 so it's an old song.

"I used to play it live all the time and my friends would all know it. I stopped playing it when lockdown started and thought 'this song has had it's time'.

"But Sam got in touch with me. We got to meet and the chemistry worked and we were able to produce together.

"I said it was my favourite song and I really wanted it to be my debut.

"So we worked together, got the song done and now it's ready for release.

"It has been nice to work with such an amazing producer and our ideas have bounced well off each other."

The song includes the line ‘Don’t look them in the eye/ Cos they’ll take you by surprise’ which highlights how reluctant people can be to talk to someone with trauma just in case it provokes an uncomfortable situation.

The main chorus focuses on the idea that everything will be ‘Just Fine’. It embraces how everyone feels and accepts that being sad is okay.

"People can be broken hearted for all different reasons, relationships, friendships, grieving, all those kind of things," Emily said.

"For me, I wrote the song around a note about Ben but I think the song can resonate with everyone in different ways."

To listen to the track visit Instagram, Facebook or YouTube.

https://www.instagram.com/emilysambrook_music

You can also listen on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmilySambrookOfficial and YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbE-YzI5ao8tcUaXB5eCaPQ/featured