Sjea (aka Shea) is a twenty-three-year-old artist and producer based in Los Angeles. She is a self-taught musician with a background in audio engineering and recently released You Never Have to Show Up to the Party.
The artist explains: “You Never Have to Show Up to the Party is a coming-of-age project, exploring themes of heartbreak, anxiety and overcoming personal trauma.” These themes have become very common over the last ten years or so. These topics weren’t nearly as prevalent from young artists when I was in my early twenties about twenty years ago. “Summer Blacks” is up first and we are greeted with percussive elements, strummed minor and major chords and bass. The vocals are warm and sincere. There’s a nice mix of emotion to the vocals. There’s something carefree about her vocal style which feels comforting. “Madeline” was a highlight. The song is a bit more upbeat and dance worthy. I loved the vocals on this song. There isn’t much range in terms of octave scales but that was some of the appeal. The cascading vocal harmonies towards the end was the high point. “So Dear” is definitely a little more melancholy but this was done well. The song also goes down a familiar path of nostalgia painting imagery of school days but also mentions the trauma that seems to have formed. The music was great and reminded me of glitch electronics in the style of Lali Puna. She does show her range more on this song. “September” is infused ’8’s synth pop which re-emerged about a decade ago. This song is lush and atmospheric pads and use of reverb sounds good with the infectious vocals. This was a really tight and focused EP. The songs were well written, accessible and well produced. I look forward to hearing more from the artist.
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May 2024
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