On The Rise: Emotional Oranges

“I just like the change: I don't want to feel trapped. I just wanted to free myself”. V begins our conversation with this personal catharsis as Emotional Oranges prepare for their first UK show in London's XOYO. In the venue's slightly dingy green room, it's the first time I've seen their faces, with the elusive act shrouding themselves in mystery throughout the creative process for their new project, The Juice Vol. 1. Even in this proximity, A retains a certain degree of anonymity by opting to keep on his dark, tinted glasses throughout our conversation.

Allegedly, Emotional Oranges came into existence when Adele's vocal coach and Drake’s engineer met at a bat mitzvah in 2017, two names which are indoctrinated in the West’s pop culture canon. Too good to be true, perhaps: the duo actually began making records together two years prior, eventually putting together a team of around 30 music professionals to help bring the concept to life. Despite the size of their artistic collective, the production process is a distinctly intimate affair, and Emotional Oranges keep secret of their musical intricacies between the two of them. Creating a rich 90s aesthetic infused with chocolatey guitar runs and disco stylings, it’s the dynamic exchanges between the duo which are particularly intriguing - two lovers engaged in a sultry discourse.

Having only released their first single “Motion” last year – an irresistibly groovy number flooded with desire - the collective have built up an impressive fanbase, connecting with their listeners through well-nourished social media platforms. V discusses mastering the craft of online communication: “the connection is everything: with life, with relationships, friendships, music, partners. I think that’s why we try to stay as engaged as possible,” she explains. “It’s wild like, some of these people, our clothing, our merch, you get to see how much these kids spend.” A continues: “You only have to have five or six thousand people to buy what you put out, it’s nuts that this is such a big part of their life. It’s dope, it’s really, really dope.”

Building an aesthetic based on their vibrant R&B discography and carefully curated music videos, their online profile is beautifully polished. The band cleverly manipulate social channels to produce a refined catalogue of immersive imagery and tropical-tinged hues, from the pulpy goodness of “Unless You’re Drowning” to the collage of iconic movie bathroom scenes in “Personal”.

“I think orange is underused, it’s vibrant,” A says. “6am - 6pm, you get the whole range and that’s the record too, right? You get happy, you get sad, you get everything in between.” V finishes: “Sunrise, sunset. Orange is all the emotions.”

Their debut project is an intrinsically human record, opening an honest and heartfelt dialogue between two lovers. Exploring the highs and lows of romantic connections, it effortlessly articulates love in all its forms. The discourse of “Built That Way” flows into the tender articulation of love and loss on “Corners Of My Mind”, a track rippling with scattered finger clicks and dreamy string instrumentation.

Staying anonymous is vital for the duo, who feel their obscurity makes their music – and tickets to their live performances – more covetable. “V’s beautiful and you get to experience that live when you come to see her, and I think it’s special to keep certain things for our secret fan club,” A explains. “You want to see us - come kick it, like, there's no mask, there's no gimmicks. This is a real show, these are professionals, she's a performance artist in a very pure way.”

Allowing the art to speak for itself, their intangible identity has manifested in high-quality, original merchandise. Cultivating an aesthetic through their clothing, these items have become almost as important as the music itself. “I think the cool thing about merch at a show is that it's part of your experience, whereas you go to somewhere like Forever 21 and you see a Pink Floyd shirt and it doesn’t mean anything to you. You come to a show and get to experience and connect with the artist and then you buy the shirt and wear it forever,” V says.

Speaking of Forever 21: “To put it bluntly, they stole our shit!” A announces incredulously, revealing that the clothing line recently dropped t-shirts featuring their recent single’s logo. “We’ve been teasing that fucking “Emotional” logo on our socials for eight months. Dude it’s exactly the same! The only thing different is the period and because of that we can’t do anything about it, the same day bro! What is it? Good artists steal, great artists copy. How about that: Forever 21 - artist of the year.”

Emotional Oranges’ live shows retain the same attention to detail that flows through The Juice, and, intent on nourishing their own performances, V says he’s keen to see his biggest inspirations up close and personal. “I saw Prince... music that I love I really wanna see,” he says. “Will Smith back when he did Big Willie Style. I told my mum and she said I was crazy - these are like $84 tickets! He had hits! I'm still a stan for Will. I've been trying to slip the "Wild Wild West" and "Men in Black" rhythms in for a long time. They sampled an 80s record and the groove was sick, super sick.”

Human connection is ferociously fought for by the duo, who work tirelessly to create music which resonates with their fans as much as the music of their adolescent years did with them. When they cite Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill as further notable inspirations for their fine-tuned aesthetic, I bring up the fact that Sade is the only account they follow on Twitter and Instagram, an artist championed for her integrity and authenticity by musical icons such as Drake and Beyoncé.

“I'll put it to you like this,” A muses, “I think outside of the fact that Sade is one of the best bands of all time, and she herself is like the epitome of perfection, I just love the way her project rolled out.”

As the excitable chatter of the crowd reaches the dressing room, the duo speak with a distinct professionalism about how they’ve built their hype so far. “There's something to say about really clever strategy when it comes to releasing music,” A says. “Because being an artist these days, at least for us, it's not just about writing important songs, it's about the full thing. I want people to look back in 20 years at our legacy. We can sell two records – I don’t give a fuck – as long as people are like: ‘They had us on the edge of our seats every time and we were anticipating every move’. They took time in it, right? That’s really important.”

As for now, the pair are working on their second volume. When can we expect to hear this next installment? “We’re working on it. It's still in the juicery, we’re getting the bottles, labels, everything set up and it will be out soon.”