Fresh Off the Boat: Emotional Oranges’ Fresh-Squeezed Juice on Not-So-Romantic Love Stories

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Image Credit: Billboard

Yen Dang

 Emotional Oranges may be faceless, but their music and style is most certainly not; they are actually what make their audiences feel most seen and heard.

They are not here to preach about the happily-ever-afters or the tales two star-crossed lovers because those aren’t the kind of romance that people have in real life. Aside from all the beautiful things of falling in love, people also, and primarily, experience love through disappointment, sacrifice, heartbreaks, lies and unsatisfied fantasies of someone who never looks at them twice. These are the moments that make people feel unwanted, ashamed and literally want to take a tequila shot then cry. Yet, Emotional Oranges relate to those moments as they are simply done with the picture-perfect delusions and unrealistic expectations of what a “good romance” should be. They are, in fact, all-in for your rollercoaster of fantastical sex dreams, heartbreaking break-ups, bittersweet nostalgia of past lovers, and even those obnoxious not-so-lowkey-hater/best-friends of your girl.

Due to their anonymity, the duo is free from living up to a personality or an appearance and has the flexibility to experiment with different styles and content for their songs while keeping their signature futuristic retro R&B juice. With so much room for creativity, EO has settled on delivering their messages to the audience through one consistent vessel, which is storytelling, while imposing no boundaries around what their stories or messages should be.

Indeed, their songs never tell the same tale twice. “Hold You Back” re-tells the back and forth about a woman falling in love with another girl while being in a toxic relationship with a guy while “Good To Me” brings onto the table the narrative of two lovers finding themselves stuck in a toxic cycle of old habits and emotions.

However, EO never restricts themselves to just writing songs about relationships between two people but they expand the horizons to one’s relationship with themselves. “Just Like You” is essentially the perfect epitome as while keeping its nature as a love story about passion in a long-distance relationship, the song is also debunking the double standard around women being open about masturbation (or their sexual experience with themselves).

Emotional Oranges are precisely the kind of “fresh air” that the music scene needs nowadays with their unique and diverse storytelling, their mysterious allure and impressive vocals. These are what separate the duo from the general crowd as well as provide a solid ground for EO to launch their breakthrough as they continue to evolve and expand their horizons.