Each season needs its own music that captures its atmosphere, and if there’s a kind of music to symbolize fall, it needs to be warm, blue, emotive, and have a sprinkle of glimmer. To give an exquisite lead that fits and raises expectations on how this potion can be done, Blueprint Tokyo is releasing their EP, “Cinema Sounds.”
Kevin Dawson and Andrew Hale, from Oklahoma City, make up the duo known as Cinema Sounds. They offer a rich and cinematic Indie Rock/Pop sonic landscape built with raw emotions, relatable themes, hope amidst dark sense, and killer musicianship.
“Cinema Sounds” is their most recent EP, which right from the first listen felt like I was listening to my favorite band, although this is my first time ever hearing Blueprint Tokyo. There’s this intensity that makes them feel familiar and appealing, as if they’re your close-to-heart 90’s band coming to present-day. Each element has a retro vibe, yet it’s futuristic, and it’s all atmospheric and fits any part of the day. While the three singles have distinct characters, they all create a dreamy realm as they last that is filled with melodic cadences.
The duo offers the ideal, enticing teaser by releasing the opening track, “Say Anything,” ahead of the EP. The song serves as a great introduction to their music, which is dark with rays of sunshine. All of the elements somehow feel like the Yin-Yang, as they deliver both cold dreadfulness and warm hope. It’s a synth-driven track, and that’s what gives it its colorful vibe the best. The entire instrumentation, with its dynamic drumming and catchy riffs, resonates with one’s ears and heart, while the dual vocals overlap and perform passionately in a symphonic manner with a sorrowful tone to penetrate the mind’s thoughts.
With a brighter intro, we move to “LaRusso” and its nostalgic atmosphere. Everything in the song provokes one’s memories and stirs them, resulting in a bittersweet mood. The vocal delivery is passionate and feels like an anthemic narrative to a sweet story that left a wound. The lyrics convey the complexity, and the musical composition brings it to life. The synth sounds both classic and contemporary, while the chords and drum line sound rebellious and yearning.
Ending the EP with the headbanger “Sailor Girl,” which has an edgy and wild flavor that makes you add it to your hyper playlist instantly. The lyrics are simple yet insanely infectious. There’s a wind instrument giving a jazzy vibe to the rocking sound that leaves you feeling like you just drove at the max speed and having a lusty adrenaline rush. The echoed vocals are such a vibe and lure you into singing along and having an actual hope for a miracle.
There’s an emotional aftertaste to this EP that’s not easy to describe; it just needs to be felt while hearing it. It’s a mixture of diving into the past and looking for the future, longing and moving on, overthinking and just going with the flow, all produced by a dope rock/pop hybrid at its finest that gets you addicted to Blueprint Tokyo and their polished, human-representing songwriting and fiery delivery.
