First grabbing our ears last winter with the Cinema Sounds EP, Oklahoma City-based band Blueprint Tokyo continue to strut a powerful rock sound straddling dreaminess and passion — this time with their newly released Blue EP. The project of Kevin Dawson and Andrew Hale meld ’80s and ’90s rock and new-wave influences with further backgrounds in emo, post-punk, and classic rock — resulting in a melodic, memorably emotive sound throughout.
Impressing in its range of moody guitar tones and impassioned vocal rises, “Odysseus” opens the album with ample entrancement. A lingering guitar emphasis past the one-minute mark is especially engrossing, as the vocals take a momentary reprieve. “I can feel you closer,” a subdued presence lets out thereafter, punctuated by bursts of charismatic fervency. “Odysseus” opens the release with a firm statement, emphasizing the project’s tonal versatility and knack for emotively melodic intrigue.
The EP continues with standout songwriting and production across the other four tracks. “Only Hearts” follows with hazy acoustics and a lyrical sense of “feeling lost,” — channeling a more introspective allure initially, and launching into an ardent display of jangling guitars and soaring vocals past the first minute. “Mission Control” also succeeds in its multi-layered vocal passion, centering around a spacey title-touting refrain that easily hooks. The Blue EP is another achievement in songwriting and production from Blueprint Tokyo.
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“Odysseus” and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.
