Music is the Answer by SHEBAD
Best Tracks: Time Takes Time, Brother, Black Walnut, Faeries
Genre: Art Pop, Neo Soul
Year: 2024
Claire and Ciccio had a beautiful vision with Music is the Answer, and they executed it perfectly. It’s a blessing that SHEBAD exists, and from Fantano to J-Wave in Tokyo, the world clearly recognises that. It’s so inspiring to see such creative artists get the praise they deserve.
So why is the world (and myself) falling in love with this music? The opening track, “Love is the Message”, is everything great about SHEBAD. The song is a sonic landscape of guitar reverbs and bass harmonics, kept in time by Emmitt’s hypnotic ghost-note funk. Claire’s vocals are as smooth as silk. Her lead vocal is commanding and romantic; she reminds me of Daniel Caesar, but with more authenticity and kindness. The background vocals add an extra layer to her character, with harmonised runs that even Nai Palm of Hiatus Kaiyote would be proud of. And every time I hear the bass/vocal outro on this track, I never want it to end.
But then it does, and it’s followed by “Time Takes Time”. This song starts with the most gorgeous piano I’ve EVER heard. The subtle chorusing sounds like heaven, and that’s even before Bridget’s strings come in. My God. When the reversed piano leads into the first kick drum, my soul leaves my body. “Time Takes Time” has my favourite songwriting on the whole album. It recognises how greed and impatience has robbed the world of love, all without sounding too pessimistic or too sappy. I’ve listened to this song almost every day since it came out as the final single, and I’m still not sick of it. And if the enchanting piano wasn’t enough, it also has one of the the tightest drum/bass grooves on the whole album. “Time Takes Time” is just flawless.
For brevity, I won’t go into depth on tracks 3-9. The sax harmonies on “The Heart” are incredible though, and “Divison” is low-key R&B at its finest. “Brother” is a personal favourite of mine. It sounds small, intimate, and textured, like a warm hug coming through the speakers. The Hiatus Kaiyote influence really comes through on “Learning to Un” and “Vernal Pool” too. The tracklist reaches its penultimate climax with “Black Walnut”.. This song goes absolutely insane live, and they managed to capture that lightning here on the album.
Now I always love a good closing track, and the first time I heard “Faeries” my jaw dropped. This is psychedelic soul taken to the future. The guitars and bass blend together into a thick, soupy groove and I can’t sit still. The vocal’s keep flipping onto the offbeats, and when the kick pattern switches 3 minutes in, it feels like the band starts to levitate. The song has such gorgeous sound design too, with repeating synths and delays fading in and out. The twisting tape delay that ends the track out is insanely cool, and it’s the perfect way to end off this masterpiece of an album. I will never, ever get tired of this song.
So if music is the answer, what is the question? After listening to SHEBAD’s debut, it feels like Claire and Ciccio are saying that music is their answer to the meaning of life itself. I think I believe them. I can’t not be convinced by the genuine beauty this project exudes. I am so excited for the future of SHEBAD it’s not even funny. #shebaddie 4ever