Music Review: Eden by Plake

HUNTER PLAKE CAPTURED OUR attention when he was a contestant on Season 12 of The Voice. His unique arrangements of songs like “Elastic Heart,” “All I Want” and “I Want To Know What Love Is” gave us a taste of his ability to evoke chills with his pristine voice and the genius of his musicianship.

His voice echoes over elegant arrangements with a melancholic indie rock glow. This songwriting talent carries him back to his roots - a joint effort with brother Dakota, their band simply dubbed Plake. Since 2017, the duo has released several singles, starting with the debut drop, “Eden.” About an hour before its midnight release, Hunter and Dakota posted the song to YouTube, which has since gained over 91k views and 4.6 million listens on Spotify. However pleased we are with that result, numbers don’t matter to us here at Deitra. It’s the music that counts, and Plake does not disappoint. We’ve been anticipating any original music produced by Hunter and couldn’t be more thrilled with the delivery of every single released by Plake. 

“Eden” is an atmospheric chilled-out dance track that showcases Hunter’s exceptional trademark falsetto and breathy low-end. His voice is his own, but can be compared to Chris Martin of Coldplay. “Eden” is followed by four more single releases to date. “Out Of My Mind” follows in the same vein as “Eden,” while their third release, “Float,” could find itself at home on a movie soundtrack with its new wave/synthpop vibe driven by tenderness and the suppleness of Hunter’s voice. “Shirt” is a smooth and despairing ballad, while “Cold Vibes” brings in an energetic dance beat. While we love every song they’ve produced, the genius of releasing singles is that it leaves us constantly wanting more.   DM

Check out all of these tracks on YouTube, Spotify and iTunes.

This article can also be seen in Issue 15 of Deitra Magazine. Since appearing in this issue, Plake has released another notable single, "Bleeding Out."

written by tamara styer
photo property of the artist