Empress of “Me” Album Review

Empress+of+Me+Album+Review

Picture yourself in the SoHo H&M store. What is that you hear? It’s not CHVRCHES, it’s a groovy cut from Empress Of’s “Systems” EP. The sleek white walls have been knocked down and replaced with the atmosphere of the Pulau Tioman Jungle. Forget the intimate ceiling lights, whenever you look up you see the exotic sky-blocking trees the Pulau Tioman has to offer. This frisky jungle vibe is exactly what you feel when listening to the debut Empress Of LP, “Me”.

Lorely Rodriguez, a.k.a. Empress Of, is quite the low-key artist. In 2012, Rodriguez released her single “Champagne” along with a B-side. Then in 2013, listeners got to hear her first project, the “Systems” EP, released on Double Denim and Terrible Records. This club-rocking project was a very fun effort and it showed listeners just what Rodriguez had to offer at the time. Rodriguez also released a very interesting experimental project in 2013 that most people can’t quite explain. It was a mystical art-pop album called “Colorminutes”, made up of 15 tracks averaging at about 1 minute per song. This project was released on Big Love Records, the exclusive Japanese release label that has released select records from underground lords such as Iceage, Youth Code, Destruction Unit and much more. A major factor of “Colorminutes” was its audiovisual appeal. Along with the release, Rodriguez uploaded 11 of the 15 tracks to YouTube, each accompanied with a solid color filling up the frame. It was a very different but intriguing project.

If you heard that story about Rodriguez writing this 10-track project while stuck in Mexico, it’s true. Just after establishing her deal with XL and Terrible, Rodriguez headed fresh off a break up to Mexico to find herself. Rodriguez lived in her friend’s house in the middle of nowhere for a month and eventually grew very sick of it. But luckily for our benefit, this gave Rodriguez the chance to grace us with some amazing music. Now we have “Me”, a somewhat conceptual album where track by track a story is being told about the twists and turns of the youth’s modern relationship.

The lyricism on this project isn’t spectacular or anything out of the norm, but Rodriguez finds a way to explain her mind in very cool ways. Although I found the opening track “Everything Is You” to be the most forgettable, it did break down the experimental side of the artist and it successfully began the simple story. Listeners learned just how dependent of her lover Rodriguez has become. Then listeners move on to “Water Water” and “Standard”, introducing her struggle to get by with the troubles to pay rent, leading into her talking about the advantages of living in a country where bottled and packaged water is so accessible. This essentially expresses Rodriguez’s ability to stay balanced and hydrated during a tough and emotional time. Just when you think the production could not get any better, “How Do You Do It” comes into play. Now the listener gets a taste of that African groove thrown into the adrenaline pumping dance beat. As the album moves along, the production becomes more unique and keeps finding ways to sound nothing like the track before. “Kitty Kat” brings in what is perhaps the most aggressive song on the album. While Rodriguez’s voice is still beautiful and tender, we get some pounding bass lines for the first time in the album. It isn’t a fast song, but it boosts the adrenaline some more and makes just want to go on an independent adventure. Later in the album, you hear Rodriguez get very intimate on “Make Up.” Rodriguez is giving into a no strings attached hookup while singing, “Nothing comes between us/ But a piece of latex/ When you tear my clothes off/ Like I was a paycheck.”

Yeah, she is pretty daring.

It was very difficult finding flaws with this album. While the production and lyrics will boost your self-confidence and make you want to dance in the most expressive way possible, it isn’t exactly something we haven’t heard before. However, that’s not enough to keep this gem out of landing a confident 8/10 and being the first album to make it on the “New and Edge Cutting” list.

 

ALBUM POSTERBOYS: Standard, Water Water, How Do You Do It, Threat, Kitty Kat

+ : The production is something out of a club in the middle of an exotic jungle. Prepare to have a ton of fun.

– : Although you won’t be able to place it, this will remind you of something you have heard before.