ETHAN, Divine Intervention (EP) | Album Review 💿

Sydney-based, New Zealand pop singer, songwriter, and producer ETHAN excels on his sexy, six-song EP, DIVINE INTERVENTION.

Chiseled, handsome, and sexy.  That describes ETHAN (Ethan Choryin Luo) perfectly! However, the producer, singer, and songwriter from Auckland, New Zealand, based in Sydney, Australia, is also incredibly talented beyond his dashing good looks. He released a fab, six-song EP, DIVINE INTERVENTION in March 2024. Need to spice up your listening rotation? Look no further than that divine intervention by way of ETHAN!

“Rain Down” 

The DIVINE INTERVENTION gets off to a marvelous start with “Rain Down.” Written and produced by ETHAN, the instrumental is sleek. It’s colorful and constructed of warm pads and modern drum programming. The sound is idiomatic of R&B. Matters of the gay heart fuel the fire: “You used to tell me whatever the shit we was in / We would figure out.” Besides strong production, the vocal delivery is sexy (just like the man).  He serves up a marvelous, ripe falsetto during the chorus:

“But we still just let it rain down

Fall out, fall out

… We kept it in way too long

So, watch how the residue pours

Enough to make it rain down

Fall out, fall out.”

Ultimately, he asks a question many ask of an expiring relationship: “How did this sweet pretty little thing / Pretty little thing turn sour?”

“Single in the Club”

“Loosen my body / Got me all choked up / Stressed out for what? / Now I’m off your drug.” Ooh-wee! 💎 “Single in the Club” is brief but ultra-sexy and filled with swagger. “One at a time, they’re coming at me / Under disguise, brand-new city,” ETHAN sings, continuing, “Slowly defining what it means to be / Free.” Like the preceding “Rain Down,” “Single in the Club” is slickly produced courtesy of ETHAN, Zach Bahn, Adam Buckingham, and Benjamin DeSoto Mayor. The instrumental gives urban-dance-pop vibes, sounding like the club. His voice ‘kicks ass and takes names,’ sounding youthful and nuanced, flaunting a fabulous tone.  His riffs and runs are fabulous too. In addition to the elite nature of his pipes, there are pitch-shifted vocals and sickening vocal effects in play. The melodic lines are fast-paced and rhythmic, matching the clubby vibes.  The songwriting (him and Isadora Soliman) feels liberated, loose, and ‘ready for some action’:

“Won’t recognize me I’m moving different

Got up my stacks, brand-new vision

Got a new boy call me masterpiece

Van Gogh, Monet, painted like Matisse.”

ETHAN not only are you a ‘masterpiece,’ but so is “Single in the Club”.

“Like It”

“Pull an all-nighter / Ain’t ‘bout to save it for later / We on that puppy love time / Clean up then we back on site.” Oh, snap, more like, oh, shit! It’s easy to like 💎 “Like It”? ETHAN adds in this sexy single, “Drunk on that punch boy / Taste it on your tongue boy, hey.” He penned this naughty gem alongside Maribelle and Alex the Astronaut. Vetta Borne produced this sensational queer sex song. ETHAN sounds amazing – that tone, those sickening runs – as well as amazingly titillating, giving the listeners ‘something they can feel.’ “Make it rain, boy / The way you pour that strawberry chocolate, yuh / You know it fill me up,” he sings, naughtily. In the bridge, the passion is at an all-time high – elevated baby!

“Ready now, lay me down

Turn it around

Switch it up, me on top

Boy turn me out

Just the right type of dangerous

Don’t talk, savor it.”

Damn! Is hooking up between them becoming more? It’s a concern, as he emphasizes, “I just need a weekend lover, had too many weak ass lovers,” and in the chorus, declares (1) “Don’t try to make it, make it something it’s not,” and (2) “Don’t wanna get together, if it won’t last forever.” Still, whatever this thing is between them, especially in one of the sexiest music videos you’ll ever see, it’s piping hot! The steamy “Like It” is the sugar honey iced tea.

“Suicide Doors” 

“Loving you is by far my biggest weakness,” ETHAN sings at the beginning of “Suicide Doors.” Admittedly infatuated (“You got me / Stressed, overthinking / Know it’s not me whose just in their feels / I swear baby”), he’s concerned that their relationship will fall apart. Despite his worries, ultimately, “I just slide in / I just slide / Riding ‘round in your suicide doors / Suicide.” Slide in, huh? Another gem, “Suicide Doors” benefits from elite vocals, a heaping dose of swagger, rhythmic, tuneful melodies, and an electrifying instrumental. 

“Divine Intervention” – *cues up celestial music* – follows: “Drive a reaction / Divine intervention / Lose my inhibitions / And me out down on the floor.” Once more, ETHAN is on autopilot, impressing with nuanced, slicked vocals.  The backdrop is heavenly – who doesn’t want to dance, after all?  “Baby, I don’t wanna be nice / If you’re not with me,” he sings.  His boyfriend’s presence, hence, is a must.  Need further proof of his boo’s influence? “Under his body, I’m safe now / I’m ready to break the rules,” he sings, adding, “I’m gonna make it look easy / The way only I could.” The titular track is as sweet as everything else on the EP.

“No Lovin’”

“We used to be so good.”  Sigh, the DIVINE INTERVENTION concludes with “No Lovin’.” Ugh! The three-and-a-half-minute number marks another instance where matters of the heart drive the narrative.  There is, of course, ‘trouble in paradise.’ “If there’s no lovin’ / There’s no lovin’,” ETHAN sings, continuing, “There’s no lovin’ / Tell me what we’re supposed to do.” Yep, that’s about the size of it… The boxes continue to be checked off: A gorgeous, soulful tone by our hot singer and sleek production fueling his ‘no lovin’ fire.

All in all, ETHAN shines on his DIVINE INTERVENTION. Yes, he’s a beautiful man, NO CAP.  Most importantly, however, he’s a great musician who is dripping in potential.  There isn’t a bad song on this EP chocked full of queer love and experiences.  Even if you’re not a member of the LGBTQ+ community, you’ll fawn over the excellence of the EP.  ETHAN, you’re the sugar honey iced tea!

Gems 💎: “Single in the Club” & “Like It”

ETHAN // Divine Intervention (EP) // ETHAN // 3.29.24

[📷: Brent Faulkner/ The Musical Hype; ETHAN; Clker-Free-Vector-Images, Królestwo Nauki, OpenClipart-Vectors, Pete Linforth, Tumisu from Pixabay]