Based in Sweden, thEmotion, aims to capture his human experience as honestly as possible. With his debut album, Eyes Wide Shut, he explores his state of mind as well as the state of the world, combining them both into a 30-minute alternative hip-hop experience.
thEmotion’s alternative hip-hop full-length offering has a dark, melancholic, lofi production. The moody production on the album, Eyes Wide Shut, features bass, drums, guitar, synths, piano. The fascinating production paired with epic vocals will capture the listeners attention from the very first beat.
We sat down with thEmotion to discuss his music and much more. Here is what he had to say:
Hey thEmotion, welcome to FLEX! How are you? I'm doing good, thanks! Congratulations on your brand-new album, Eyes Wide Shut - what inspired this particular project? The inspiration for this album was the state of our society as well as some personal experiences.
Did any event in particular inspire you to write this album?
I don't think I can point to a single event that inspired the album; it's more a result of growing up and starting to see what's really happening on our planet.
And do you have to be in a certain mood to write?
I always love to write music but I think the best songs come when I'm feeling a particular strong feeling, it doesn't matter which feeling I just like to tap into the moment and let it inspire me.
How was the recording and writing process?
I don't like recording my vocals so that part was a bit of a struggle with motivation but I'm happy with how it turned out. The writing process however was a lot of fun and I wanted to feel free while making the album so I just wrote whatever ideas I had for the concept of the album onto the instrumentals that didn't already have vocals.
For viewers that don’t know thEmotion, how would you describe your sound?
I would describe my sound as lofi, alternative pop hip hop.
What’s the music scene like where you live?
I'm from Stockholm so there are a lot of big artists playing here but on the independent scene it's very varied actually but I think our strongest scene here is the metal scene. I don't usually listen to metal but the few shows I've been to have been great, I really think it has some of the kindest people in music. And what are some of those activities that you engage yourself in when you aren't writing or recording in the studio? I mostly enjoy being in nature when I'm not making music, just to get away from everything and get some peace and quiet to just think.