Emika - Forever Never

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  • In one way or another, Emika's music has often been influenced by the dance floor. Her tracks glow with the intimacy of those spaces, though they don't speak to them directly—she usually leaves it to remixers to translate her electronic pop into club material. But that's started to change. Melancholia Euphoria was a self-released EP whose dilated melodies, underwritten by gothic tones and a skeletal sense of electro, were bracingly DJ-centric. Two years on, Forever Never, also on Emika Records, returns to that sound in plainspoken style. When a record as sleek as this appears, the absence of dents or smudges can seem overly refined, or lacking character. Emika stirs some of herself into "Forever," swirling her gated vocals around glistening arpeggios and euphoric synth chords. It ends up being a fun update of '90s German trance, and though "Never" is more courtly, it also shoots for the stars. "Never" recalls Koyaanisqatsi-era Philip Glass—especially the "Pruit Igoe"-esque chord progression—and lends itself nicely to epic moments. Both tracks take flight easily, but rather than taking the scenic route, Emika takes the swiftest path from A to B. At the deep end of "Never," each kick strikes in sync with the exposed notes of the harmony, a simple technique that cinches the rhythm and emphasises the space around the drums. Other compositional traits, such as the minor digital scree in the middle of "Never," are more clearly Emika's. They're neat quirks, but there are too few of them to make Forever Never feel entirely unique.
  • Tracklist
      A Forever B Never
RA