Emotional Oranges are an R&B duo from Los Angeles. I first reviewed their The Juice: Vol. II project when it was released in 2019. Ever since then, I was hooked and I knew I had to check out whatever they planned on releasing in the future. The time has come where they released their third studio project, The Juicebox.
The first track from the project is All That. The track opens up with a groovy, running bass line and a simple drum beat. The bass line seems to fade in and out throughout the track so it's interesting to see how they use the fade in and out effects. We also get a feature from Channel Tres during the second verse which is a solid addition. Other than that, they got inspiration from a lot of 90s dance music, as well as Gorillaz.
Body & Soul does a complete 180, at least that's what I thought at first. It opens up with a quiet piano/synth like introduction. However, after about ten seconds through, we get the familiar bass and drum beat that was noticeable on the previous track, except the bass isn't fading in and out. If you listened to any of their previous albums, some of the themes and concepts are similar, especially with 'taking someone back to their place'.
Bonafide has a different feeling to it compared to the previous two tracks. It opens up with a chopped up electronic sound, which will eventually go with the bass and the drum kick. During the chorus of the track, it keeps adding on with a guitar with plenty of reverb. The smooth guitars seem to fill in the chopped up parts, so it's a bit weird to hear at times. Other than that, I can't complain about the vocals. Lyrically, it's talking about not giving up or leaving someone.
Down To Miami was one of the singles I checked out prior to the album release and I've had mixed signals ever since the release. However, it has grown on me quite a bit, even if it was underwhelming first. I think one reason that I didn't really care for it is because I kept on feeling like the track was going to build up to more, but it never did. Other than that, it has a slow melodic guitar with a drum beat. By the end of the track, more instrumentation is added, but it isn't overly powerful.
Back & Forth had me excited for the project since I saw Vince Staples was featured on this track. I wasn't sure how he would fit in there with the chopped up percussive beats that were added in there. However, he was able to make it work for him. This really isn't my favorite Vince Staples feature though since he seems so emotionless and effortless. It also definitely kills the vibe and feeling of the track with the R&B vocals.
Lock It Up was another track I was looking forward to since they had the help of THEY., even though I haven't really heard much from them since their debut project. I definitely think that these two duos could team up on more tracks, or even their own group since the energy between them just mixes together so well. That being said, this is easily one of the best from the album. Lyrically, it seems like they're talking about making things official and just having someone to yourself.
No Words opens slowly with a backing bass and drum beat. As the beat progresses it does get a little more interesting with an acoustic guitar, but there doesn't seem to be much variation throughout this track. We also get some Spanish mixed with English lyrics from Yendry on this one. On this track, they talk about how they were falling for this person at the time, however, things ended up not working out for them.
The final track we have on the album is Give Me Up. It seems a bit anti-climactic for the final track of the project, especially since the instrumentation is similar to that of some of the previous tracks. The vocals haven't really changed much either, and I'm not really feeling them on this one. Lyrically, they talk about how this person left them awhile ago, and during that time, they were able to move on from the relationship.
Overall Rating: 5/10
Favorite Tracks: All That, Down To Miami, Lock It Up
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