New Emerald Four: “Love Labyrinth”

Kyoto’s Emerald Four pull off an impressive emotional balance on new song “Love Labyrinth.” This is, as the title spells out clearly, a number about love, yet the actual sound tightropes between this being forlorn and overjoyed. It’s a synty-heavy waltz, featuring a big, semi-distorted beat, the bulk of it being ambiguous enough to let the really heavyweight detail…the vocals…dance through without hesitation. And how wonderfully they move – whoever is singing strikes a delivery somewhere between hopeful and hopeless, many of the words lost in the noise but certain ones (“I will wait for you”) coming through, optimistic in the worst way. At the best moments, Emerald Four makes the music allow light in, particularly when an especially dewy keyboard line sneaks in. Listen below.

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