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Seattle electronic artist EMUH explores the dichotomy of the favorable and frightening advances in technologies – and what they mean for humanity – on his new EP, Dial Tones, out late December on Feral One Records.
EMUH is a celebrated producer, musician, and vocalist with releases on Prime Society Records and Space Yacht, alongside remixes for Arnold & Lane and GAWP. He’s also an established engineer and producer under the name Hume Audio, working with clients like Casmalia, Longstocking, Mitch Dodge, Schade, Speaker Honey, and ZOF for some of the biggest labels in the world including majors like Universal, Insomniac, and Columbia.
It’s safe to say that EMUH has channeled the advance of technology into something fulfilling for himself and beneficial to the world. Still, he is far from ignorant of what this technological integration has meant for society, and, on an individual level, much of this technological integration begins with one item in particular: the phone.
This truth makes it only fitting that the Dial Tones EP begins with its title track, which in turn begins with the sound of a lively conversation at a jovial gathering, one that the narrator is ignoring entirely as he waits for the phone to ring.
EMUH’s vocals say as much with a smooth tone and light fluctuations in pitch, demonstrating that this person who is waiting for the call is still indeed human. In between the vocals, new bits of melody appear with almost every beat, like little pings to show what he (and everyone else who’s spent an entire party staring at their phone) is missing around them.
Next is “The End Of The World,” and even when the world is burning, the narrator is still staring at his phone, harnessing another frequent experience of the modern world: technological escapism. EMUH captures this naive and avoidant dynamic with musical prowess, honing in on an ascending guitar loop. Clangy and gliding, it’s just that alluring to where (like the endless scroll of social media) something worthwhile and entertaining could be on the other side of the screen, but overall, it’s always just more of the same social loop.
For the third track, “Frog Kiss,” EMUH shifts to alternative rhythms, a less structured approach, and beautiful, dulcet sound design. Dreamy, glittering arpeggios like a night sky unimpeded by clouds and light pollution. Shimmering sheens that envelop the soundscape like a warm summer breeze. Just as when a frog turns into a prince after he feels the love of human connection, when a human puts down their phone, these are the experiences humans can feel.
To close the EP is the party track, “G-Bounce.” In this case, the “G” stands for gangster (not unlike other applications of the letter), and EMUH proves he is all that and more through his version of bassline-driven house music. In a genre that is still in the midst of its heyday, EMUH applies subtlety and intelligence. On the drop, instead of a massive foghorn, he implements a descending tone, one that then slowly rises back in towards the end of the phrase, like a clue at the beginning of a mystery being the key to the solution at the end. This is just one of the mid-range sounds that is oh so groovy, but still carries with it a great deal of emotion.
EMUH – DIAL TONES
01. DIAL TONES
02. THE END OF THE WORLD
03. FROG KISS
04. G BOUNCE
Release date: December 29th, 2023.