Alternative Rock from One Empty Toybox

Music has been stitched into the lives of Cincinnati-based musicians Rob Dreyer and Nicholas Viltrakis for decades, with the pair playing and recording together since 1995, building an extensive archive of unreleased recordings while continuing to create through both solo and collaborative projects. After rediscovering their friendship, they began another chapter together as One Empty Toybox, a project based as much in connection and creative freedom as it is in the music itself.

Friendship is a central pillar of One Empty Toybox and the band is dedicated to the warm, welcoming creative spaces that inspire them, approaching music as an environment in which ideas can arise organically. Their creative process is fundamentally improvisational, with each moment offering the possibility of a new inspiration and by not treating composition as a rigid formula, Rob and NIck allow the music to develop through the energy of the moment.

It’s a style that makes sense for two musicians whose relationship with music stretches back to to the mid 90s and creating has always been part of their lives, something they describe as part of the elemental elixir that makes them who they are. One Empty Toybox therefore feels like the continuation of a creative relationship that has already travelled through decades of playing, recording and experimentation. In 2023, they unveiled the One Empty Toybox project with the debut record HYPNAGOGIA / HYPNOPOMPIA before returning this year with a trio of singles.

Their latest offering, titled “Cyberstalking,” takes their improvisational spirit into a sphere that’s at once serious and unexpectedly playful. The track began with an instrumental framework before the two musicians added vocals and lead guitars, transforming the initial idea into an exciting rock composition. “Cyberstalking” approaches its subject with a curious contradiction; is it levity? Tragedy? Perhaps even a modern-day Romeo and Juliet? The song deliberately leaves room for all three possibilities, presenting a lighthearted take on a subject that’s more sombre.

Within the song’s upbeat surface is a distinctly modern and pressing concern, framing the notion that while the internet has become a vast source of information, it has also developed into a potentially dangerous environment where cyber threats are everywhere. As technology continues to develop at rapid pace, the arrival and growing capability of AI has made it increasingly difficult to trust everything that appears online.

Wrapped up in an alternative art rock setting, the track launches with the crunchy stab of guitar rhythms and bright lead notes flicker alongside the rhythmic vocal delivery. Propelled by rustling percussion and cut with the bubble of airy synth textures, it’s an energising outing brimming with memorable songwriting and highly creative arrangement.

Peppered with flutter of lead guitar work and colourful synth flourishes, it’s an invigorating musical moment that’s infectious and thematically profound in equal measure. It’s a superb showcase of the band’s meaningful songwriting and flair for capturing serious topics in engaging musical settings and we can’t wait to see what they’ve got in store next.

Listen to Cyberstalking below

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