emarosa new single news recap
Pictured L-R: ER White, Bradley Walden, Robert Joffred, Matthew Marcellus [Photo by Bobby Bruderle]

Op-Ed: Emarosa embrace ‘Peach Club’ as a “dang good pop record,” and you should too

Emarosa will have  their fifth full-length album, Peach Club, released this Friday. As is the case with any band’s new release, there are bound to be some changes from new members to introducing new sounds. However, with Emarosa, the changes are abundant and unapologetically so. The band’s latest addition, bassist Robert Joffred, delves into exactly what inspired the brand-new-yet-totally-vague “pop” label.

I don’t have any guilty pleasures. I unabashedly love the things that I love, and realistically, you should, too. Life’s too short to stress about some keyboard warriors telling you that you have bad taste. Pretty great mentality, right? Now apply that to the things you create. Not worrying about past endeavors, but crafting something that you genuinely love and are proud of. This is how Emarosa got to Peach Club.

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I’m the newest addition to the band—you probably haven’t heard of me. Hi, nice to meet ya. If you haven’t been paying attention, Emarosa don’t sound how we used to. This is a good thing. “But when I was in high school, the band were post-hardcore! What happened?” you ask. Well, we grew. Those old records are still there, [but] we don’t need to make them anymore. We enjoy more than one type of music, and you should, too. Realistically, if you’re the kind of person that only champions one genre, I’d have to imagine that you’re super-boring, but I was told to not be too mean in this piece.

Anyway, what’s the one genre that really doesn’t mean anything? Pop. Bruno Mars and Ellie Goulding are both “pop” and sound absolutely nothing alike. It’s a vague label that allows an artist to do whatever they want rather than being trapped in a small sonic place. It sounds pretty dang liberating to be able to create without consequence.

Because of this freedom, the inspiration for Peach Club came from anywhere and everywhere. The bass in “Givin’ Up” was the first slap bass riff I ever wrote, and we wrote that song in roughly under an hour because we let ourselves have fun. The verse of “So Bad” was the chorus of another song that we couldn’t figure out the verse of, and we changed it all while in the studio. Heck, there was an intro to a song that we stole from a car commercial. That one didn’t reach the album, maybe next time. (Probably not.)

The cool thing about Emarosa is that it’s never been a specific type of band. Yeah, those first releases were post-hardcore. Realistically, if you think about it, there was some scene-prog after that. Versus and 131 were alternative-rock records? I guess? The development of the band has always been apparent, but this is the first time we’re consciously letting y’all know that, “Hey, this one will be a bigger step.” Happiness is all about managing expectations. Peach Club is a terrible post-hardcore record because it’s a dang good pop record. If I’m being perfectly honest, the four of us listen to way too much Phil Collins to write anything else.

I’m sure every band have a very eclectic taste in music between its members, but I feel few groups capitalize on this opportunity. Bradley [Walden, frontman] loves Top 40 vocalists, so we get some infectious melodies. I’ve been on a neo-soul kick, so this album has more chromaticism than any previous Emarosa release. ER [White, lead guitarist] has been diving into more electronic-oriented rock music, which shaped most of the sounds of the album. Matt [Marcellus, rhythm guitarist] listens to legitimately anything and everything, so there are some cool angular guitar parts that bring the songs to life. It’s all there, baby.

This record has given us the ability to write the type of music that we wanted to and will allow us to seize opportunities that we couldn’t before. No longer do Emarosa need to compose songs with guitar, bass and drums, but we can use brass (did that), woodwinds (that too), synthesizers (done did that) and whatever else there may be. Instead of being stuck performing in a small pool of artists, the world opens up. Rather than only creating videos and content that is ~moody~, I can troll people into thinking that one of our singles was used in a Nintendo advertisement (still can’t believe how well that worked). A new sound means new things.

Ultimately, some of us wanted to make an album that was straight pop. Some of us wanted to make an album that defied genre rules. I just wanted to make an album that my mom would genuinely enjoy. We hope you enjoy Peach Club, but if you don’t you’re dead to me, and I hate you. Totally kidding (kind of).

Welcome to the club.

Peach Club drops Feb. 8 and is available for preorder now. The band are currently on the road, and you can pick up tickets here.

Dates:

02/07 – Mesa, AZ @ Club Red
02/08 – Los Angeles, CA @ Pop Up Shop
02/09 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Hi Hat
02/14 – Honolulu, HI @ Anna O’Briens
02/22 – Osaka, JP @ Clapper
02/23 – Tokyo, JP @ Loft
02/24 – Aichi, JP @ Imaike Grow
02/25 – Tokyo, JP @ Garrett

See more: 16 memorable band photos

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