As you might have guessed, The Amanda Emblem Experiment is a band fronted by Amanda Emblem. Amanda has had a really interesting career within the music industry, going from playing in a punk band to touring constantly. Now, she tours very little, instead putting her focus on the studio for her new project. Farmtime is perhaps an apt title for this EP then, but don’t worry, as there’s nothing middle of the road about it!
By Jane Howkins
There are five delectable tracks to get your teeth into on Farmtime, with Waterfall being a nice little opener. It sets the stage well for the style of music performed on the record, including elements of folk, country, Americana, rock and the blues. The song is full of instrumentation, with so much going on that you’ll need to listen to it a few times over. Whilst the music is delightful, Amanda’s vocals truly shine through here, taking most of the attention from the track.
Of Course I Do takes things down a notch. It takes on a much more stripped-back tone than Waterfall, featuring a melancholic, strummed acoustic guitar as the main instrumentation here, although there are some nice little synth melodies present if you put the effort in. You can really feel everything Amanda is singing about in the lyrics, adding a heartfelt bent into the piece.
Middle of the Night opens with some interesting vocal effects, repeating the title of the song over and over again, as the eerie spaghetti western style guitar melody oozes into being. It turns into a full throttle blues rocker after a short while, full of energy and attitude, sounding effortlessly cool. The track has a proper stomp of a rhythm to it – just try listening to it without wanting to tap your feet along in time!
General Consensus is another bluesy rocker, opening with some chugging electric guitar riffs, as well as some little fingerpicked acoustic moments. It’s a bit of a slow burner at times, but it all sounds really cool, as Amanda’s vocals weave their way through the music, as more and more instruments are slowly added into the mix.
Final track Aphrodisia is another eerie sounding tune that wouldn’t be out of place in a western film. It’s more of a traditional folk song than anything else, featuring some really nice guitar melodies, alongside the bongo style drums. The music is fairly understated here, but this factor just allows the vocals to take the focal point of the song, as they should do when they’re this good!
Farmtime shows an artist not afraid to innovate within her own genre, and I can’t wait to hear what The Amanda Emblem Experiment comes up with next time around! Whilst Amanda has stated the project is largely a studio band, I hope she might reconsider touring too!
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