Emotional Oranges is a duo that formed in 2017 between the members, V and A. Given that V was a vocal coach for Adele, and A was an audio engineer for Drake, one can expect an immense display of musical talent when the two join forces. V and A have expressed the desire to live normal lives, given the pseudonyms they release music under. For a while there, their real names and faces were largely unknown, but now that they’ve toured the world and grown to be quite successful, their identities have become public. This past Friday saw the release of their new album, STILL EMO. At just 8 tracks, all but 3 were released as singles ahead of time. Such a marketing run is no doubt an experiment motivated by our single-based industry. Among the 3 songs that were collected in the official project, the outro, “Better Apart” is a psychedelic gem. 

“Better Apart” is, unsurprisingly, a breakup song. One of the greatest gifts that Emotional Oranges has to offer is the exploration of relationships between men and women, given the male and female vocal contributions from each member. Each song is like a duet in which we get to hear from both sides of the relationship. They make us feel like a fly on the wall. As if we’re lucky to be there, watching everything unfold. Each track is a complete and holistic picture of varying perspectives. Whereas most solo artists can only tell one side of the story, Emotional Oranges can provide both. “Better Apart” is an exhibition of such. Everything about “Better Apart” is captured in its dreamy atmosphere. The guitars, vocal deliveries, and spacey reverb and delay all fuse together into a dreamlike sequence of heartbreak. Which is an interesting approach to such a theme. It makes the experience seem hallucinatory. Like it all happened so fast. It doesn’t feel real. Perhaps the speakers are in a state of denial. Some of the lyrical content of A’s verse leans into this theory, “Close my eyes, hear you call my name” and “Wait, can't shake old habits, they keep hauntin' me”. The performances and engineering on this song all work to make this a unique sonic depiction of a breakup. Though the songwriting may not be the most distinctive, the vibe of the song offers a pretty intimate and idiosyncratic soundscape capturing the end of a relationship. 

Emotional Oranges continues to offer sweet, hypnotic, and memorable tracks with illustrious production, dynamic vocals, and passionate song-writing. If you love a nice duet between a male and female vocalist, look no further than Emotional Oranges, because a good portion of their music is tethered to that bond. Their aesthetics are potent, the music is captivating, and the soul of it all is endearing. After you check this song out, if you’d like a good starting place, I was first introduced to Emotional Oranges with the song “Corners Of My Mind” off of The Juice: Vol. 1. Me and my family still have that song in heavy rotation YEARS later. My highest recommendation to the person currently reading this: go to your desired streaming service, download whatever Emotional Oranges record looks the most appealing to you, get in the car, roll the windows down, and enter their world. STILL EMO is available everywhere.

Author: Jordan

Jordan Wisniewski is a passionate writer and Hip-Hop artist from North Carolina, US.