[ATTENDED: November 14, 2019] Emily Reo [rescheduled from June 6]
I hadn’t heard of Emily Reo before this show. She was supposed to open for Charly Bliss back in June when the show was postponed. Reo opened on the rest of those shows so it was nice she was brought back for this extra show as well.
Emily joked about mid-way through the set saying she hoped she requested the day off from work…otherwise she might not have a job tomorrow. Not sure what her job was, but that was certainly endearing. It also made me want to buy a CD (or a cool shirt) from her, but the line was massive (good for her).
Emily Reo is a musician and recording engineer from Brooklyn. She has been putting out music for ten years. and has about a dozen releases. Most of the songs in this show came from her newest album, 2019’s Only You Can See It.
I don’t remember the names of her live band mates, (sorry guys), but they played a simple drum, bass and guitar foundation for the synths and vocals that made up the bulk or Reo’s sound.
Reo had a keyboard rack in front of her. But I was really intrigued by her voice. In addition to being powerful with a decent range, she multi-tracked her voice throughout the show. I couldn’t tell if the extra vocals were prerecorded or modified live, but her backing vocals often had some kind of processing on it (or just a simple echo) to make her voice seem huge.
You can hear some of the vocal tracking (and a nice guitar solo) on “Sundowning.”
I loved the drumming in “Fleur.” In fact, I liked the drumming in a lot of the songs–a lot of toms and interesting patterns. She has some really cool vocal melodies on a lot of these songs like the really fast chorus vocals in this song. Although I can tell I was too close because in the videos you can’t really hear her vocals all that well.
“Ghosting” has some great high notes that really showed off her range. There some more complex drumming in the middle. She also does a few different vocals styles in this song.
After a few songs I saw her pick up a keytar. If you play a keytar I’m going to be pretty excited. If you use it as a midi-controller, creating all kinds of interesting sounds while also playing the main keyboard lines, I’m going to be super impressed. This happened in “Balloon.” Many times, the vocals were all kinds of processed, giving the a very cool robotic sound.
She played one song from 2013’s Olive Juice. “Peach” sounded very different, including using a programmed drum pattern (the live drummer did join in, but the dominant sound was the electric drum). It was also the simplest song of the night (the chord progression of the verses was so simple as to be almost a joke). The bridges has some cool sound effects thrown on top, but overall it makes me think that this album isn’t as strong as the newer one.
Once again, though I am really bummed by the lighting. That magenta–barf. They had even brought their own lighting projector which sent shapes on the wall behind them. But it couldn’t defeat the pink.
I loved the guitar riff and build up in “Candy.” There were also some interesting vocal filters (and you can actually hear the vocals in this video) for this song. The drums were quiet but were cool with lots of little clicks and pops. “Strawberry” started with a sequencer playing a line of keyboard notes. New sounds were slowly added as the song grew more complex. until it resolved in a simple melody with a prominent guitar riff and layered vocals. The most memorable part of the song came at he end when, through a filter that sounded a bit like a megaphone, she sang lyrics that were almost like a cheerleader:
what do you deserve from me
n-o-t-h-i-n-g
why do you always have to be
so c-r-y-p-t-i-c
save the calls for my kitty
c-h-a-r-l-i-e
wish you had earned that PHD
in r-e-s-p-e-c-t
how many girls in this city
are getting t-i-r-e-d
finding a sense of security
through h-i-d-i-n-g
wish i could swim but i’m in your teeth
b-l-e-e-d-i-n-g
wish you had earned that PHD
in r-e-s-p-e-c-t
And who doesn’t love songs with lyrics that you have to spell?
Interestingly, the Charlie might be the person in my favorite song, the set ending “Charlie.” The song was a slow burner with some big soaring vocals and terrific harmonies.
She was an enjoyable opening act and I ‘m glad to have heard her.
One observation about her voice.
On record she has a delivery that I’ve noticed a lot of women seem to have lately and I can’t decide if its an affectation or an accent or an age thing or what. The women who do it are not from the same place, so it can’t be an accent). You can hear it in the way she sings the first line of “Sundowning.” From 30-40 seconds, the lines “something familiar caught in a smokescreen / locked in a mirror.” The way she sings the word “mirror” is weirdly affected. You can also hear it from 2:55- 3:00 in “Ghosting” (“from a hollow tree / I’ve been spirit hosting”). Other singers who have this kind of delivery include Margaret Glaspy (who is from California). At around 48 seconds in “You and I,” listen to the way she sings “out on parade” is that same delivery but so excessive it’s practically slurred. And around 1:40 ” I think you might be harboring a heartache” is just full of that delivery. What is is called? Also SOAK (who is from Northern Ireland and may actually have an accent in her delivery), but the way she sings “B a noBody” has a lot ofthat delivery in the first lines and in the way she sings “c’mon c’mon.” Perhaps it’s generational.
SETLIST
- Sundowning *
- Fleur *
- Ghosting *
- Balloon *
- Peach ⊗
- Candy *
- Strawberry *
- Charlie *
* 2019 = Only You Can See
⊗ 2013 = Olive Juice
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The Retinas are a Philly band. I hadn’t heard of them before this show.
I Just Read About That... 