Emotional Oranges have been heavily featured on this blog for a long time now and that’s simply because their music is outstanding. The enigmatic duo from LA have been steadily releasing music since their debut early last year and now they’ve unleashed their juicy debut project The Juice: Vol 1 to the world and let’s just say it’s something really special.
The opening track is the song that first introduced everyone to their luscious brand of RnB Motion. It opens the project perfectly with their signature dynamic harmonies and sensuous energy being ever present as well as an old school groove that gets your body swaying to the melody as the slick bass lick plays on.
We then get my favourite track from the duo Personal that contains these flirtatious lyrics and sultry sounds that wouldn’t feel too out of place in any 50 Shades of Grey movie. I personally adore the fusion of this track combining elements of guitars found in Acid Jazz, Hip Hop influenced drums and funky bass rhythms that are reminiscent of the classic Motown era of music.
Hold You Back is filled with succulent male/female harmonies that send chills down our spines, a spacious and more laidback production, luscious vocals and melancholy lyrics to complete the masterclass of RnB music. It’s one of those tracks that you hear and first thing you think about is sex, which, considering their music, is probably exactly what they were going for.
We then get the lusciously smooth and tantalisingly good track Someone Else that has a more laidback nature mixed with an alluring atmosphere that the production amplifies further with a deep bass-line and making me feel really hot under the collar. This is also one of their more relatable songs with them saying, “Wrote it about openly telling my girl that if she’s unhappy, she needs to go be with someone else!”
We see a new side to Emotional Oranges in the next track with the production becoming more minimalistic and extremely emotionally engaging with an intimate atmosphere being created from the gentle beats and tender vocals melting into one another. Good To Me makes you feel as if you’re a fly on the wall watching a couple go through a rough patch in their relationship together. It’s an extremely honest track that bares all for the world to see.
The more the project goes on the more you see the vulnerable nature that this duo are able to express solely through their compassionate vocals and Built That Way shows this. The track is about being close enough to someone you can ask them anything even if the truth will hurt you with a production that came from their past influences as they explain, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu’s Mama’s Gun were very defining albums for us, both from a sonic and messaging perspective.”
Unless You’re Drowning casts a seductive spell over us with a lusciously smooth melody that enthrals us from start to finish with an eery sensuality to it that compels you to want more from them. It’s got that old school disco feel and honestly wouldn’t feel out of place being played late into the night at a few underground clubs and has the most incredible bass line and a brutal underlying message.
We then get the grand finale Corners Of My Mind and, I have to say, it is the perfect end note for this sensational project. It’s a heartbreaking single that has me reaching for the tissues with poignant lyrics about going through a terrible break up with the duo reflecting how they would’ve handled it if they went through something like this personally. It’s a tearjerking end to a masterful debut.
Emotional Oranges have always been capable of producing great things and they’ve shown this in The Juice: Vol 1 effortlessly. If you’re looking for an album that can make feel hot under the collar and make you cry over memories from the past then this project is the one for you.