Premiere: Emerson Star, ‘Wasted’

Kevin Bronson on November 8th, 2017

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L.A. quintet Emerson Star don’t come off as party animals — their buoyant guitar pop seems better for long drives and beach parties than late-night bingeing — but their darker new single “Wasted” sounds a note of caution. “The song is about when the party starts to spill over into the rest of your life,” singer Shannon Inuoye says. “It stops being fun and starts to feel like a trap.”

The band — Shannon Inouye along with his brother Taylor, Sean Thomas, Garrett Lang and Colin Fahrner — has grown by leaps and bounds since issuing their debut album in 2014 — especially with last year’s EP “Great Escaper.” Now they’ve signed a deal with Wax Records LTD (Zella Day, Family of the Year), with plans to release a new album in 2018. They’ve been working with producer Wally Gagel (Best Coast, Muse, Lykke Li), and “Wasted” (to be released Friday) is the first tune to emerge from those sessions.

It’s probably reason to celebrate, but not so much that, as Inouye sings, “You scrambled your brains / What would would your mother say?”

||| Stream: “Wasted”