Emarosa

A wide-ranging American rock band with roots in post-hardcore, Emarosa emerged in 2007 with a sound forged in the crucible of emo and metalcore. By the release of their full-length debut, 2008′s Relativity, the band had begun trafficking in elements of alternative rock and pop, with subsequent efforts like Peach Club (2019) and Sting (2023) undergoing a complete synth pop makeover. The band has endured multiple personnel changes over the decades, with guitarist ER White and lead vocalist Bradley Walden serving as the core.
Founded in Lexington, Kentucky in 2006 by Chris Roetter (vocals), ER White (guitar), Will Sowers (bass), Lukas Koszewski (drums), and Jordan Stewart (keyboards), the band recorded its seven-track debut EP, This Is Your Way Out, in 2007, along with rhythm guitarist Madison Stolzer. They signed to Rise Records for their full-length debut, 2008′s Relativity, which featured new vocalist Jonny Craig (formerly of the Rise Records-affiliated band Dance Gavin Dance) replacing Roetter, and guitarist Jonas Ladekjaer replacing Stolzer. The album introduced elements of pop and alternative rock into the band’s sound, and proved popular in the post-hardcore underground, selling well enough to break into the Billboard 200 albums chart and also register on the Heatseekers chart.
The self-titled Emarosa album from 2010 outperformed the band’s debut, peaking at number 69. In 2011, after parting with Craig, Emarosa recruited Tilian Pearson from Tides of Man. Even when Craig returned for a brief stint in 2013, it was not for long; he left to form Slaves, and Bradley Scott Walden of Squid the Whale became Emarosa’s permanent vocalist. The band began recording late in 2013, and emerged in September 2014 with Versus, its highest-charting album to date, peaking at number 61 on the Billboard 200. Both Ladekjaer and Koszewski amicably departed Emarosa shortly afterward. Touring rhythm guitarist Matthew Marcellus (This or the Apocalypse) and drummer Branden Morgan were recruited as replacements in 2015.
After Sowers left the group, Emarosa signed with Hopeless Records. Their first release for that label was 2016′s 131. 2017′s 131 Revisited EP saw the band drastically rework four songs from their 2016 full-length. The band’s fifth studio long-player, the high-energy Peach Club, arrived in early 2019 and introduced elements of new wave and synth pop into the mix. With White and Walden leading the charge, Emarosa leaned even harder into their new synth pop style on 2023′s Sting, which included the dance-worthy singles “Stay” and “Preach.” ~ Jason Birchmeier & James Christopher Monger