Emanuel and the Fear are an orchestral rock band. What's that mean? Well it's means, when you have 11 members in your band you can kind of forget being just a simple group. Emanuel and the Fear are way more than that and their self titled EP is a reflection of that idea. You see, this is a group that's influenced equally by Rachmaninoff and Glass as much as Arcade Fire and Sufjan Stevens. If you can imagine a chamber orchestra parked next to the side of your bog standard rock band then you can sort of put your head around what Emanuel and the Fear are all about.
The groups self titled EP, is a five song affair that's as lush and grand as it is intimate and quiet. The five songs here essentially illustrate the different attitudes of the band whether it be rambunctious, downtrodden or intellectual. It's an emotional rollercoaster that will just about wear you out over the course of it's 25 minute running time. While Emanuel and the Fear can do just about any arrangement they dream up, the band is truly at it's best when they are upbeat and use the orchestra to carry the pop sensibility of the band along. "The Rain Becomes The Clouds," is a perfect illustration of this as the song at times reminds me of something Burt Bacharach would have written back in the 70's. It's really quite good stuff and, in fact, so is most of the EP. Diverse and lush Emanuel and the Fear EP is a tempting teaser for their debut album due later this year and is probably the best $5 you can spend on music at the moment.
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