Let’s begin with a cassette tape. Not metaphorically. Literally. The first thing you hear on Uprooted, the new EP from Toronto-based alternative R&B artist Ember L.I, is the soft, unmistakable click of plastic and magnetic tape being shuffled into place. It’s eight seconds long. It does almost nothing. And it tells you basically everything you need to know because this is not an EP that wants to impress you by being loud. It wants to sit you down, hand you something personal, and say “Please don’t skim this.” In a nutshell, Uprooted is intimate, controlled, and quietly defiant; a project that understands that emotional impact doesn’t require shouting.
After the cassette intro, “Untitled” fades in like smoke filling a room. The production is textured and modern, but deliberately understated. Ember’s vocals float just above it; sultry, measured, and emotionally loaded without being theatrical. She doesn’t belt. She doesn’t overemote. She invites you closer and trusts that you’ll do the work.
And that trust is important, because this EP is doing something slightly unusual: it assumes you’re paying attention.
“Decisions” continues this mood of quiet tension. Lyrically, it explores emotional ambiguity and complicated attachment, but without romanticizing the confusion. Ember doesn’t treat uncertainty as mysterious or poetic. She treats it as exhausting. Her writing here is blunt in the best way; clear-eyed, emotionally literate, and refreshingly uninterested in self-deception. The production mirrors this, smooth and atmospheric with just enough unease to keep everything slightly off-balance.
Then we arrive at the emotional centerpiece: “Cold War (feat. KHADIJAH).” At over four minutes, it’s the longest track on the project, and it earns every second. Rather than escalating into melodrama, the song explores conflict through distance and restraint. This is not a breakup song where people scream at each other. This is a song about silence, pride, and emotional standoffs; the kind that last longer and hurt more.
The chemistry between Ember and KHADIJAH feels organic, not performative. Their voices interact rather than compete, creating a conversation that feels unresolved by design. The “cold war” isn’t won. It just… persists. And that’s the point.
The EP closes with “Not The One,” its most direct and confident statement. If the earlier tracks simmer, this one settles. There’s no ambiguity here. Ember reasserts her autonomy with cool precision, delivering a performance that’s assertive without being aggressive. The production sharpens slightly, the attitude becomes clearer, but the elegance remains intact. It’s empowerment without posturing.
What makes Uprooted particularly effective is its cohesion. In under 13 minutes, it constructs a complete emotional arc. The cassette framing device isn’t a gimmick; it contextualizes the project as something personal and intentional, almost like a recorded message left behind. A sonic diary, carefully curated and deliberately shared.
The title feels apt. These songs document what happens when you pull something out of its emotional soil such as relationships, expectations, illusions and examines all of it honestly. What remains isn’t bitterness. Rather, it’s clarity.
Ember L.I has steadily refined her sound, and Uprooted represents a confident evolution. Her alternative R&B style is polished yet intimate, layered yet accessible. She avoids oversinging and overexplaining. She lets mood, texture, and emotional intelligence do the heavy lifting. And crucially, it works.
With Uprooted, Ember L.I isn’t just contributing to the alternative R&B landscape; she’s carving out a lane defined by restraint, coherence, and emotional precision. This may be framed as a mixtape within a story, but make no mistake: these are deliberate artistic statements.
And like any good cassette, they linger long after the tape stops spinning.
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About the Author
A tenured media critic known working as a ghost writer, freelance critic for publications in the US and former lead writer of Atop The Treehouse. Reviews music, film and TV shows for media aggregators.
