How did we miss this?! While streaming through related songs on Soundcloud.com, Etta Bond and Raf Riley’s “Boring Bitches” began to unexpectedly play from the speakers and a feeling of intense intrigue washed over the rest of the day. Emergency Room is a joint EP from the two that features this song alongside seven more glorious and dirty bangers that intertwine brash R&B, inklings of Dubstep, and heavily pays homage to the Grime genre. All of these genres and more are wrapped up into a twisted download that’s currently available for stream on Spotify and an under $8 download from iTunes.

“Don’t you care who’s watching her? She looks fucking crazy. She should be here sitting down and acting like a lady,” begins Bond amongst schizophrenic vocals being pitched up and down. In a way, though the line is an ironic piss take about the inside of a boring bitch’s head, it embodies the pure spirit of what Emergency Room is. It’s an unforgiving, traumatic blunt force blow to the aggressive hearsay from the dance floor and a brutal look at a wide range of imaginative club kid and active 20-something’s issues.

On “Boring Bitches,” Raf Riley combines a wide stereo image that relies on extreme vocal effects and a screaming synthesizer that rides at the high end frequencies of the mix. The synths and vocals are smartly executed through its composition by taking turns from when they’re presented and taken out through the song. When Bond unforgettably snarls “Everybody point ’em out! ..North, west, east, to the fucking south. Maybe you’ll be dancing now!” there’s minimal percussion at its duration as a means to strongly advise a no bullshit tolerance for a less than total command of what the track is about. To make up for it, a post-chorus breakdown follows through with pure bass & production groove. All in all, these two portions assault the mix while the final phrase of the chorus is playfully looped and tossed around the stereo image. For a track with such grit, it’s very sophisticatedly executed.

“Ask Me To Stay” finds Etta Bond sounding interestingly familiar to how Keri Hilson would phrase and execute her vocals. However, she strays into a lane as dark as something  The Weeknd would perform. It’s a song that’s filled with a distorted beginning, 2-step verse melody, and lethargic rhythmic structure – an upper, downer, and a warped view of sorts.

The more progressive song on Emergency Room belongs to “Premeditated Murder” as it always seems to be structurally varying off into different territories and “One Way Train” chugs through a wonderful pad which folds and unfolds to make its way into one of the more straight R&B and highlights of the extended play.

Sometimes in a bit of a monotonous cocky tone, Etta Bond recalls a small touch of Lily Allen as well. But if it’s one thing she’s got for sure, it’s the incredible production techniques that Raf has supplied. They’re serious, they’re out for blood, and make for an incredible team on Emergency Room. Had we would have known this was such a great summer release, it would have found its way onto this blog much sooner.

If you’re not a boring bitch, you’ll download this record or give it a spin. Though it’s quite a loud record, with the iTunes download maintaining a 5dB average space of dynamic range, it’s a great record that shows how storytelling vocally can mix with the sonics of a record. It also has an impressive stereo image that could, quite possibly, send you straight to the emergency room. 

We strongly recommend these London based talents!

Raf Riley Soundcloud | Etta Bond Soundcloud | Emergency-Room.co.uk