For the sentient, thinking, and dare we say sensual listener, the key question after checking out Emitter’s 9-track album Extra Pale is direct and to the point. How long, exactly, can you put an ear to what might be the best number on the entire affair, “Adelaide”, before you tacitly yell and tell yourself that you’ve just got to get a copy of it?

This track has it all, and in what a way, too. The lyrics are exceptional. They’re actually less of the poetic variety and more on the extravagant, outrageous side. “Dear Adelaide”, the lead singer waxes poetically. “That cake will melt your ice cream”. For those with imagination, there’s little left to the imagination about such a lady as that.

But the music only makes things even better, especially the drumming, which is one of the greatest treats on this LP. Slow, deep, and way, way in the pocket, the cue sticks signal the fact that this is going to be a ballad of all ballads before things really even get going. Moreover, all of the instrumentation is to be revered on this outing, which includes a funk organ, rhythm guitar, and an electric lead that knows just how to hit the background.

And while it does, the lead singer ventures off well into the foreground. He dredges up some kind of falsetto, smoke-tinged and filled with the sort of expressivity that can carry an entire album on its own. Plus, there appears to be a background singer, possibly female, harmonizing some deluctable “ooh, ooh, oooooohs” that simply send the song to the top of the stack on this collection of cuts.

None of these panegyrics, however, should suggest that Emitter is anything close to a one hit wonder. “The Way It Is” gives a nod to the best elements on Ethan Hawke’s solo, “I’m Nothing”, on the Reality Bites soundtrack, including the cool, pirouetting, electric guitar and kick back tempo. Again, the drumming is able to up the ante handily, this time with much needed, timely cymbal crashes that heighten the overall emotion. Many of the other characteristics of “Adelaide” are reprised (although “The Way” occurs first in the album’s sequencing”), including that charming falsetto and the background singer’s high notes, too.

With this pastiche of instruments, textures, and professionalism, Emitter’s got something on this album, that’s darn difficult to find anywhere else.