Illustration by Johnnie Cluney

Calling the musically rich city of New Orleans home can be a blessing or a curse.  You can either try to expand on what has been born and bred there for decades, or you can go a different route.  In Empress Hotel’s (@empress_hotel) case, they seem to prefer the latter. Their recently released self-titled EP, via Park the Van Records, is mostly upbeat pop rock, and while it’s incredibly pleasant, I am actually digging their Daytrotter sessions a bit more.

I really enjoy the production of the recorded songs and actually find it to be one of their strong points (the drums sound really thick and pumping).  Like many bands, the difference between the studio and a live setting can be a change for either the better or worse.  In this case In this case, I don’t really find it to be one or the other.  They just sound a slightly more loose and raw when playing the songs as a live unit.

Their use of female backing vocals adds a cool touch to their otherwise standard instrumentation, and while they’re not necessarily breaking any new ground here, they do have a good vibe and write some very catchy songs.  Mikah McKee’s voice drives the music with the help of a warm electric piano sound, electric guitars, and electronic blemishes.  There are some attributes of R&B and soul/funk that manifest itself in the Empress Hotel’s music, but the influence is not terribly overt, and considering they’re a New Orleans-based band, they should be commended for that.

They recently visited Brooklyn last month and had an impressive showing at SXSW, so be sure to check out their 5 song EP and keep an eye on when they come back up North.