American R&B project Emotional Oranges have paired with Vince Staples on their latest track ‘Back & Forth’.
The track is featured on the band’s brand new album The Juicebox, which was released last Friday. In a time when most musicians put their careers on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, Emotional Oranges have been thriving, releasing their debut EP The Juice: Vol. 1 in May of 2019. That was followed by another EP, The Juice: Vol 2 in November of 2019.
A slow grooving slow jam, ‘Back & Forth’ rides on the easy energy of its low key beat and the relaxed vocals of the band’s pseudonymous members A and V. Like a lot of the band’s material, ‘Back & Forth’ moves along with a slick, soulful feel that gets its requisite shakeup through Staples’ verse.
Staples verse is all about commitment and love you don’t typically hear in popular music. “I can never see me doin’ you wrong/That was never how they say in them songs.” Even in the face of a breakup, Staples is faithful in his belief that the love isn’t worth giving up on. “No hard feelings, I guess/Too hard livin’ in stress, livin’ it up/Heartbroke, still up in love/Don’t go givin’ it up.”
Staples’ next release is to be a self-titled LP due out this summer. Apart from his occasional appearances in Sprite ads, Staples has been mainly quiet since he dropped three singles, ‘So What?’, ‘Sheet Music’ and ‘Ad 01: Hell Bound’, in 2019. Like the rest of us, Staples was probably just sussing out how to live through a pandemic, so no shade on his lack of output. It’s just good to hear him on a track again.
Listen to the audio for ‘Back & Forth’ down below. The Juicebox is available to stream right now.