Elegant and stealth-like, opener Creep sets the bar sky high for Tei Shi’s debut album, ‘Crawl Space’. Slinking sexily onto track two, the gentle swing lullaby Baby, she infuses her mysteriously beautiful, understated aesthetic with moments of hope amid an air of melancholy.
Valerie Teicher quietly wrote and recorded this blissful and brilliant body of work over the course of a year a half, steering herself away from publicity and attention. Inherently personal, there is a resounding sense of fragility residing in the background of the lyrics, yet the artists’ original instrumental arrangements paint a picture of a bold talent empowered.
Her production choices are nostalgic and at times reminiscent of a sound that would be fitting for a romantic scene in some ‘80s teen movie. Say You Do, for example, is a standout moment and brings Tei as close as she can get to a power ballad, where comparisons could be drawn to contemporaries Sky Ferriera or Jessy Lanza.
Throughout, minimally layered chords accompany passion-fuelled choruses drenched in the sunshine feels of young love. And Justify is a distinct switch up to the more mainstream songs which have gone before it on the track-listing. More FKA Twigs than Jessie Ware, the poetic sensibilities and experimental flair Tei exhibits manipulate time and space with clever rhythmic progressions.
This innovative talent for production and surging confidence are what distinguish Teicher from others in her field. Exotic stunner Your World is a siren song, written by a woman who is in love with being in love. Much can be learned from these notes on heartbreak.
Named after a habit she developed for climbing into concealed spaces as a child, ‘Crawl Space’ is Tei communicating from the secret spiritual places she still retreats to as an adult. Venting on moments of trust destroyed and feelings torn, uncensored access is granted to the inner emotional world of this entrancing, articulate artist.
Her clarity, vocabulary and soulful connection to the music are both instinctive and seamless. ‘Crawl Space’ is an evolution of self; a record that tells of fear, lust and real life from a truly honest point of conception from which every great musician should aspire to inspire.
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