Album title: Emerald Island
Artist: Caro Emerald
Genre: Exotica
Nationality: Dutch
Release date: March 3
Position in Discography: Third overall; first EP
Fear Factor: High
Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? Was not even aware it existed
Average RYM Score: 3.50
What the flipping flip is exotica, as a musical genre? To Wiki, post haste! Oh, I see: a sanitised, fantasy version of island music. Caribbean beats for white folks. Hmm. Sounds less than promising. Well this is only an EP so we'll see. Looks like she has Guy Chambers working on her material, he of Robbie Williams fame. Take that as you will. Yea, kinda sounds like maybe the stuff you'd hear play in bars in the fifties whose owners thought they were exotic (hence the genre tag, I suppose) or maybe on cruise ships. There's an attempt to reggae the third song up, but it's clearly white man's reggae and just laughable. Not sure why a Dutch woman is trying to recreate the fantasy music of the islands, but there you go. Pretty sanitised and annoying, to be honest. “Exotic Flu” is particularly so, just a few notes repeated on a piano. Sigh. And back to the reggae we go. Mon. Where's the lifebuoy? Let me off this ship! I'll take me chances with the sharks.
Check out more from this artist? Not while there's breath in my body
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Not while there's, you know...
Expectation Index: 0