Rolko sets the bar high with his debut album, Hidden Hotel Rooms. The darkly fascinating album consist nine brilliant tracks, taking listeners through a spiritually transcending journey, radiating a unique blend of fierce, dark sonics taking inspirations from techno, rock, world, and indie pop. Rolko has a very particular taste when it comes to bending and blending genres. The visual, cinematic inspired sonic landscapes create something obscure, nostalgic, and one of a kind.

“Emerald Stones,” being the third single from the album, tackles human desires, telling the not unfamiliar tale of a man entangled by the beauty of a dark spirit. It comes in the shape of a woman, intensely desirable, dangerously addictive, leading you to make all the wrong decisions. Like a blazing flame, with palpable sonics, driving down a visually emotive, dark road, “Emerald Stones” is a track you can’t look away from, but it seems to be telling you something more.

Rolko delivers melodies with warmth and vulnerability. The guitar rhythms are enriched with a folkloric mystery. The tingling percussive bells blown in the background add nuance and innocence to the track. Though the dark ode depicts a journey alone, Rolko’s vocal brings a distinctive rocker’s sensibility in contrast with the electronic-infused modernity.

Things get really interesting when Rolko’s rocker grittiness meet a night-inspired urban electronic, rounding up with the addictive pop phantom. It seems to be the perfect combination, talking about desires, addiction, and the dark side of technology in a spiritual conscious, high awareness state of mind. Hidden Hotel Rooms gaze into the hidden and secret corners of your soul. Like a fire that could both take down an entire village and cast away darkness, it calls for confrontation. Maybe it’s about soul-searching, facing the ugliness and darkness, finding the fire in your eyes again.