by Phil Hunt
Maybe it was the English accent, or the hip-hoppy bounce with rocked-out guitars. Or maybe it was the sampled shout from a raunchy ’80s comedian. Whatever the secret of its success, “Unbelievable,” by the British band EMF, landed like a cannonball in America’s backyard pool in the summer of 1991. The track was a worldwide hit, reaching No. 1 in the U.S., with that boisterous “Ohh!” booming in everyone’s ears.
Looking back, EMF’s Ian Dench says “Unbelievable” was not part of a master plan. “Initially, we had no idea,” Dench tells PureHoney ahead of a quick swing through Florida for a 90s Cruise and a one-off at Respectable Street in West Palm Beach. “But something about ‘Unbelievable’ just connected.”
It was a once-in-a-career event. EMF made two more LPs, disbanded, reunited, broke up and regrouped again, and was largely remembered as a fun ’90s fling. But Dench doesn’t sound like someone ruing his one-hit-wonder fate. “The experience we’ve had and the money we made thanks to that song, what a wonderful thing it’s been in all of our lives,” he says. “We still play it every gig.”
EMF have been busy of late, beginning with 2022’s Go Go Sapiens, the first album of new EMF music in 27 years, followed by another LP in 2024 and a late-2025 EP, Reach For Something Higher. The 2020s music is unmistakably EMF, upbeat rock with sampled snippets and singer James Atkin sounding boyish as ever. The band is touring again, and wading into contemporary culture wars with inclusive anthems such as “Hello People” and “LGBTQ+ Lover.”
The EP track “Hands in the Air” came after band members attended a “No Kings” protest in San Jose in June. “We wrote it on the road and debuted it on the tour,” Dench says, describing the song as inspired by “the hope” he saw in America “and that will for positive change.”
Another album is in the works, Dench says, as EMF have found renewed joy in making music without the pressure to write hits: “I feel like we’ve regained our peace with who we are.”
EMF play Saturday, January 31 at Respectable Street in West Palm Beach. emf-theband.com ~ Sean Piccoli
