Emerald Park was nice enough to share their upcoming single with us. The single is called Reality Bites. Emerald Park is an indie-pop group out of Sweden. Once I heard that, I was all over this single. Being an indie-pop lover in general, I did have tempered expectations. Those were unnecessary.
For those of you who follow the radio show, you’ve heard me talk about the “ho-hum” start to 2011 music season in the states. I started thinking I needed to reach out to Europe.. Low and behold, this landed in my lap here at OTD. And things looks good in Sweden.
With that said, Reality Bites is a really catchy and upbeat single. Lyrics are very singable. You’ll hear plenty of strings. I noticed a mandolin, violins, and the ever present acoustic guitar. It keeps your head bobbing and each song builds slowly, marching forward. I was smiling within 20 seconds.
Vocally they are fantastic… I think it helps the lyrics are so catchy.
It’s not your typical rehashed pop. I think they may have taken notes on some early New Pornographers albums… but this is not a copy, its toned down a little.
I think Emerald Park got what it hoped out sending me this single. I immediately purchased their 2nd album For Tomorrow, I “Like”d them on Facebook, started writing a emails to others on the radio show give them the heads up on these guys, decided to reach out for an interview and informed Gerkenstein that we should get them a gig in Chicago when schedules permit.
I will be singing this all weekend…
Thanks for this great feature. We really appreciate it. Will contact you guys soon about that interview.
“Reality Bites” entered the Swedish Alternative Chart on ITunes as number 59.
Greetings from Sweden,
Tobias