The foundation of today’s exclusive premiere is an elegant combination of cello and Greek mythology. “The Boy Who Melts the Sun” is a reimagining of the tale of Icarus by EMÆL (ee-my-el), taken from their forthcoming full-length, Glasswork, and it is chamber pop at its finest.
Nothing more accurately describes the future than being engulfed in flames, due to your own hubris at that. “The Boy” is adapted for our generation, describing Icarus’ confidence with stunning complexity and depth, not just in the lyrics but also through the band’s woven rhythms. EMÆL’s trademark is the cello, but this proves that they can integrate the instrument in innovative ways; the power in this single comes from the complement of strings, squealing electronics, that infectious guitar riff.
“The song was initially conceived when I was traveling in Paris. The seedlings of the song were born off of the guitar riff I was playing on my indestructible ovation travel guitar during a jam in a hotel stairwell at 4am with my violinist friend Dei Uresti. When I returned home to my studio in SoCal I knew I had to do something with this obscure voice-note on my phone, so I fleshed out and re-recorded the song. When I was producing it, I wanted to explore using tribal sounds that somehow still felt futuristic.” – Emmanuel Ventura-Cruess, frontman/cellist
The indestructible guitar that lead singer and cellist Ventura-Cruess mentions above earned that title when it survived a fifty foot drop off of a cliff. He was at an arts camp in 2009, visiting his favorite spot at the top of a rock formation where he liked to play; suddenly, he lost his shoe and fell about ten feet–a fraction of the impact his instrument sustained but still enough to break his scapula. It seems that Ventura-Cruess was flying a little too close to the sun, but luckily he is still with us to warn us of his folly…though he’d rather push us higher until our wings disintegrate instead.
Pre-order Glasswork here. For more information about EMÆL, follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
