EMKE pushes new frontiers with first full-length album

“Edit Undo”
EMKE
(Soup Or Salad Productions; no serial number)

EMKE is a unique entity in Hawaii’s rock scene. Women are rare in rock, and often, they appear as vocalists surrounded by men. EMKE’s entire front line is female: Kira Santos and Mari Arakawa sing and play guitar and keyboards; Santos’ sister, Ezri Santos, sings and plays bass. Payton Sekigawa, the group’s drummer, is the sole male of the group.

EMKE’s first full-length album — 10 original songs, no remakes — is a powerful statement that moves far beyond the promising frontiers of its 2012 EP, “Promises and Expectations.”

Kira Santos is the resident songwriter. She is an articulate spokeswoman for anyone who counts themselves a victim of a bad relationship. “We know it’s never easy/To trust a lying soul/But yet we end up falling/Left to survive alone. Why are the innocent broken?” she asks on “Down Low.” Many unfortunates have asked that! “Is it possible/To look me in the eyes/And reveal to me a truth that’s not twisted?” she implores in “My Own Enemy.” Far too many romantic souls will relate.

Optimists may find glimmers of hope in the final song, a power ballad titled “If I Say Goodbye.”

Santos is an expressive vocalist whether crooning or screaming. Ezri Santos earns her spotlight number as lead vocalist on the opening song, “Silence of the Lonely,” and Arakawa gives EMKE a strong third voice on harmonies.

Sekigawa brings power to spare on drums.

“Edit Undo” should make its mark with local listeners.

Visit emkehawaii.com.

“My Aloha!”
Peter Rowan
(Omnivore Recordings, OVCD-219)

The mystique of Hawaii has inspired songwriters worldwide for more than a century. Some wrote from firsthand experience, others never came here but used their imaginations. Veteran bluegrass musician Peter Rowan is one of the former — a frequent visitor who enjoys spending time in Hawaii even when he isn’t here to play a show.

Rowen teamed up with Douglas Po‘oloa Tolentino, Jeff Au Hoy and Kilin Reece to record a complete 10-song album of original hapa haole songs — written in honor of the sentimental, blended Hawaiian, pop and jazz music of a century ago, when the steel guitar was still an acoustic instrument.

Rowen opens with a song about a “hula girl” — one of the all-time favorite subjects for writers of hapa haole songs. The arrangement establishes the time frame as well. The interplay between the instruments — from “My Blue Hula Girl” to the final reprise of “Sunny at Sunrise — is best appreciated with a good set of headphones. Rowan and his musicians rock it in authentic old-style style, romantic and mellow.

“Uncle Jimmy” is a humorous song that could be autobiographical. Rowan honors the hapa haole tradition and builds on it with memorable finesse and engaging spirit.

Visit omnivorerecordings.com.