Emiko [@emikomusic_] gifts us Piece Of Mind EP

Upcoming R&B talent Emiko has just dropped his debut project Piece Of Mind.

Piece Of Mind is a timely project from an R&B star who has only been on people’s radar for around a year now. Emiko first made waves in late 2018 when he got a co-sign from Masego which was a huge stamp of approval. Going on from this in 2019 he was a part of Nadia Jae‘s BBC 1Xtra RnB Mash Up and did a whole host of live performances. This culminated in a sold out show at the end of February 2020 which he used as his EP launch, performing with a live band at Colours Hoxton.

Emiko truly announces himself with Piece Of Mind. The record is a tumultuous descent into the burrows of the mind, where love, loneliness and pain lies, where every piece of the human experience is explored. But that doesn’t mean the project is bleak, rather it offers messages of hope and positivity despite how tough things can seem. An appropriate message amongst the uncertain times we’re all currently faced with at the moment amidst a pandemic that no one could have foreseen.

Piece Of Mind is kicked off with a track that quickly became a fan favourite, and luckily got a video produced for it, ‘Youth (Of Better Times)’. The track is both a message to our younger selves and a reminder to our current selves – we need to be kind to ourselves. But more than that it explores the internal battle that goes on amongst us all at times, with the reminder that there is, and always will be, better times. Speaking on the video here’s what Emiko had to say:

“The Bristol location allowed for me to dig into a deeper part of myself to perform for I was in a “foreign land” if you will and out of my comfort zone. It meant having to trust those around me that i knew. The desolate locations allowed for me to give a performative video with meaning.”

So not only does the song explore battling with our comfort zones, even the process of filming the video mirrored it.

Despite Piece of Mind being only 5 tracks long there is significant depth, each song tackles issues adeptly without being overly bleak or overly glorifying. So much is touched on across the just under 20 minute run time, and it is a project that you can and should come back to often to truly appreciate its worth. Doing an incredible job on a debut project early in the year should hopefully allow for Emiko to push on and only go on to achieve even more in 2020.