The last we heard from Tei Shi – apart from a feature on Blood Orange‘s Negro Swan last year – was her gorgeous and sensual 2017 debut, Crawl Space.
The 28-year-old singer-songwriter, born Valerie Teicher, has since moved from New York to Los Angeles, and as of Thursday (June 6), she’s back with “A Kiss Goodbye” – the first taste of what’s next, and a departure from what’s come before.
The song was produced by Stint who, most importantly obviously, co-produced Carly Rae Jepsen‘s “LA Hallucinations.” He’s also worked with MØ and Jessie Ware, among others.
The press release describes “A Kiss Goodbye” as “reconnecting musically with her Latin roots and influences, delicately drawing influence from ’70s Brazilian pop and Spanish folk ballads. And at the bridge, with its heady trap-leaning beats ‘A Kiss Goodbye’ takes on a new urgency that echoes the intense self-possession at the heart of her lyrics.”
Indeed, it is a lush and luxurious listen that feels best suited for a sunbathing session on a pool float this summer – preferably just after dumping someone, packing up, and moving many miles away to start a new life.
And yes, that breezy “ba-da-ba-ba-ba-ba-da” bit does remind me of the McDonald’s jingle. I can appreciate high and low art simultaneously.
“So I lead with my body, follow with my head / Was it love that you wanted? / Let me walk away, I’m on the other side,” she coos.
“This song is about intuition—following my gut and my body more than my head. It’s about learning from love and from giving so much of myself to other people, and coming out of it with a more selfish mindset, to save my love and my nurturing for myself. It’s about figuring out who you are on your own and without someone else defining that for you, through trusting yourself and allowing for the universe, the supernatural, the unexpected to take hold,” she says of the lush new tune.
It’s very Jewel “Intuition” messaging in that way.
She’s also been working on her follow-up album, which was inspired by her move – and her creative reawakening in the process.
“I felt like I was closing a chapter in my life that was tied up in a lot of negativity, and reconnecting with open space and my own creativity in a way that I hadn’t in a very long time. I was spending so much time in nature and seeing all this beauty in my surroundings, and I felt really inspired to bring that feeling into my music.”
May we all aspire to be inspired to do the same.
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“A Kiss Goodbye” was released on June 6. (Apple Music)
