Emetrex can really take you back to your inner self

For every action there is an equal reaction, if I remember my physics lessons correctly although it is blurred due to being occupied with fantasising about The Shadows Of Knight at the time. Anyway, for all the loudness and make-up the nu- and rap-metallers America unleashes, it produces its own counterpoints: Korn, Slipknot and Linkin Park are ‘opposed’ by bands like Sparklehorse, Grandaddy, Lambchop and, since last year, Emetrex.

The Boston based Emetrex’s brand new single, ‘Curve Of The Earth’, follows the impressive long-player of 2001, ‘Metacomet’. It is a three-tracker that uses quietness to overwhelm our aural pleasure zones; from the mild-lilt energy guitaring main title, it is lo-fi sweet'n'refined that draws you in, with music that is infantile and profound in equal measures, like honey does Winnie-the-Pooh.

Using simply the minimum orchestration this is a journey into a man’s soul without being too emo-demo. It rises above the perimeters set by Brit-miserabilists by being more on the hypnotic side, like the Flaming Lips can be in their rare tender moments. This is not music to lull you into a false mood but a call to admit to yourself – you are a compassionate human being who refutes the standards of the industry that are so diabolical.

Although radio-friendly in essence, Emetrex’s music is far from bland because it packs in so much of different elements: guitars and samples, atmospherics in darker shades, basic drum-patterns and effects that are almost sketch-like. It is all gelled into a cosmic soundscape that really shakes foundations of what passes for poignant and haunting nowadays. It is introspective as well as outta-perspective, it simply magics one’s reality…

‘Out Of My Sight’ grows out of a guitar’n’effects intro into a gentle psychedelic rocker that has a ‘classic’ written all over it. ‘Trip You Up’ combines a sustained guitar sound with an echo-y vocal to take you imaginary places that remain distant galaxies for too many others. If you buy one single this year, get Emetrex, it is as precious as a breathe of mountain air. Deeply rich and elegantly melancholic (rather than depressing)…

We usually avoid reviewing singles (because they are just a con to seal fame-a-dime ‘stars’ created by media hype that, sometime, promote an album) but this is too beautiful to pass unnoted. It heralds a new batch of recordings in a few months time and miss on it out of your own ignorance.

8.8/10