LISTEN: The Shakes Pres. Songs About Her by Emir Hermono

By JUICE Malaysia • 30 Dec 2014 in News

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At just 23 years young, Emir Hermono aka The Shakes has been making beats for the likes of Altimet and even Drake’s OVO Sound artiste Majid Jordan. So attuned to his sensibility, Hermono released a lovelorn lament, a beat tape entitled Beats and Breakups, a few months ago and now here he is with Songs About Her — a six-part declaration of new found romance; each song representing a specific message or meaning he communicates with melodies and samples. Hermono tentatively opens with a languid ‘The Fix Up’, which then segues to ‘I’m With You’ that’s carried by a wistfully tender guitar. ‘Tiga Ribu Lima’ samples Childish Gambino’s jaunty ‘3005‘ while ‘Champagne and Caviar’ samples the soulful family group The Sylvers, along with live recording of most of the musical instruments featured on the track, all in the name of truly illustrating how much of “a cool badass chick” his current girl is. ‘Gemini 2’ is a reworked of an existing hip hop track he did with Sayla in 2011, now emblematic of the mystery girl’s horoscope, which alludes to some semblance of her personality. Finally, the Shelhiel collaboration, ‘ATL’, seals this sonic love letter with gusto — at first with meek piano but then emboldens into exhilarating bursts of electronic sounds, tinkering, and pounding that ultimately settle back to its thematic sweetness.

Enjoy.