Emika: Emika

Emika: Emika
Dubstep is like football; it means two completely different things in Europe and in America. In America, dubstep is a quickly growing genre characterized by heavy beats and wobble bass. In Europe, dubstep is a genre characterized by a shuffling beat and understated instrumentals. Although both are clearly subgenres of electronica, they could not be more different. English musician, Emika attempts to bridge the two genres on her self-titled album.
Attempting to bridge the two genres is a bit of a tall task because incorporating elements of either genre rules her out of both. One of the album’s single “Double Edge” has the standard shuffling beat that is a hallmark of UK dubstep. Emika adds her classical piano training and delicate vocals to make the track one of the stand outs on the album. But the track is obviously too tame for US dubstep fans.
On the other side stands tracks like “FM Attention” which features the wobble bass that is a US dubstep hallmark. But the drums on track are more glitchy than what US dubstep fans are accustomed to. The drums do not add a heaviness to the track but rather a sense of contained urgency seeming to want to break out at any second.
Emika never does seem to full break out on the album. She fully embraces the UK dubstep style but never has a full out US dubstep explosion. Unfortunately, that means she probably won’t find a great deal of success with the every growing population of American dubstep fans.
Rating: 6.7/10
MP3: Emika “Double Edge”
Buy: iTunes or Insound!