[Review] Ear Monsterz – Sober (Ft. Chereen Melody) “It’s a pretty powerful release.”

This track comes through with the nostalgic purity of early nineties dance tracks, music from a time when the simplicity of a strong melody, a passionate performance, and a well crafted and beautifully polished piece of music made for the ultimate listening experience. Putting nostalgia to one side though, the track develops far beyond the reach of any prior musical phases. The distorted energy, the structure, the variation between rhythms and synths and even between the weight of the music – the lightness verses the darkness – there’s barely a single moment of complacency beyond the initial, descending riff, and that vocal line. This makes for something fresh, unpredictable, and exciting.

The touch of nostalgia draws in the right kind of audience, but the actual centre of the song, those EDM driven, uniquely creative instrumental moments, make for the perfect audio arena – a space within which fans of hardcore house, or dub-step, or any other sub-genre that demands energy and enthusiasm – can completely lose themselves. A lack of complacency means that there’s never a dull moment, the music fills in every gap, and fills the space around you with absolute style and confidence. The energy of it is infectious, and the intermittent vocal parts make for an undeniably human touch which brings in a certain element of accessibility, of realness – real emotion, lyrics of a certain depth, something to actually say.

The underlying vibe of the music is intense and memorable, superbly easy to turn up loud and revel in, extremely addictive in how effective the music is in allowing you to escape. The fact that the lyrics offer something innately real and emotional adds a further element of strength, and this talk of sobriety being difficult ties in well with the mood and the scene often associated with the music. It’s a pretty powerful release.

By Rebecca Cullen

Rebecca is a Musician and writer from Manchester, UK, with an MA in Song Writing