In an animated music video for the original mix of “Perfect” that plays out like a string of internal thoughts racing through his mind, Stringz EMB doesn’t come off like a rising star still looking to find his place the grander scheme of things. To me, he sounds much more like the well-adapted veteran player who knows exactly what kind of a musician he wants to be, and perhaps even more importantly, the kind of stories he wants to tell. This is a personal look from his discography that followers haven’t necessarily seen before, and it’s definitely one of my new favorite R&B listens this month.

WEBSITE: https://stringzemb.com/

The rap element in “Perfect,” as limited as it may be, is definitely as solid as a rock, but next to the vocal harmony I just don’t know that anything can really compete. Stringz EMB has a melodic ability that is too resilient and brooding for me to resist, and when he’s really giving it to us in this hook it’s as though he was meant to breakthrough to the mainstream on the back of this precise performance. He’s got incredible talent as a singer, but when combined with his compositional approach he has a multifaceted artistry many in this industry would love to have.

This beat is frustratingly removed from the melodic components of the mix, but its deliberate isolation seems like intentional on the part of Stringz EMB. I can definitely see where he would want the additional room to let his vocal breathe and take on an almost jazzy sensibility on the back half of the chorus, and while the tension is so thick you can feel it with the quake of the bassline, it doesn’t go unemployed here at all. The mood is the centerpiece even more than the lyrical narrative in “Perfect,” which despite being a little alternative to the mainstream is definitely quite the provocative formula.

I hadn’t heard Stringz EMB before coming across him earlier this year, but I’m admittedly having a hard time putting down this latest gem in “Perfect” at the moment. He’s still in a very developmental stage, as is made obvious by the raw angularities to the aesthetic here and somewhat jagged hybrid influences from hip-hop, R&B and alternative pop, but I think that if he keeps producing material as seductive as this song is, he’s going to do just fine in 2021 and beyond.

John McCall