The first solo effort in over two decades from producer Anthon Casuccio was, like many other albums this year, born out of the lockdown. After spending most of his career working for other musicians, the isolation and time he had during the pandemic gave Casuccio the leeway to build his own body of work further. By training and focally a guitarist, Casuccio explored an entirely new sound style on Emotional Lockdown, bringing to life infectious EDM tunes that are meant to evoke a desire to dance and move. One listen to ‘My Destiny’ and you’re immediately thrown back to the undying positive energy and movement of early 00s dance music. The beat is poppy to a fault, constantly bopping with effervescent licks and a heavy moment of interjection giving the song needed respite here and there. The vocals are secondary, simply serving as a clarion call to sing along while you move along.
But not every song is a pure dance anthem. Tunes like ‘Love Is The Answer’ are more pop than EDM, putting the vocal performance and narrative central while the production serves to complement the anthemic and soaring chorus that has you believing in the simplicity of life and love. On ‘I Am Free’, Casuccio gets far more eccentric and ambitious with the production that starts to become a more frenetic and relentless piece of electronic driven dance.
Overall, ‘Emotional Lockdown’ is far from the depressing time it represents. Casuccio’s anthemic collection of EDM music is far more in line with hopeful optimism and positivity, bringing out a desire to return to normalcy and experience the highs of life while being alongside each other. It’s immensely cathartic to fall into.