Colombian-Canadian singer-songwriter Tei Shi is an artist full of multitudes. She recently returned to Boston, a city she once called home, for the first time in five years to showcase the resilient and dynamic nature of her music. Kicking off the first date of her “Valerie Tour Part One” at The Sinclair in Cambridge, MA, Front of House Boston had the opportunity to sit in on the artist’s soundcheck and chat backstage before showtime.
The artist, born Valerie Teicher, reflected on her days at Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music from the advantage of seasoned years containing soaring highs and dipping lows. After splitting from her former label three years ago, Tei Shi is embracing her reinvention and reclamation of power now on her own terms.
On returning to Boston, Tei Shi reflected on the fundamentals she took from her time at Berklee. “I feel like it really helped me develop my ear and I think that has really influenced my melodies. I think [it helped] more so on the technical side of stuff and being able to be around other musicians to communicate and collaborate. Because I did a lot of that at Berkllee and I enjoyed that part of my training, I think that’s really made me have a very sharp ear and I can be very specific with how I want things to sound.”
This sentiment was exemplified during soundcheck, where she skillfully communicated each note to her sound engineer, taking a hands-on approach to the structure of each song. Fully confident in her knowledge and in her decisions, this confidence is a newly turned chapter.
Valerie, her eponymous third studio album, is a 13-track album permeating in themes of self-discovery and assurance. Over the three year process of writing and recording the LP, Tei Shi noted it to be a process of getting back to her true self. On the record and on stage, she openly introduces fans to Valerie, peeling back the layers of the stage persona that has enveloped her decade long career thus far.
On touring for her new album, she told us, “It’s the first full length album I’ve made that it’s actually my way, under my terms and something that I’ve been able to conceive and see to the end without getting super derailed by external factors. It really feels like a first album in some way.”
On this tour, Tei Shi will be performing songs from past releases and from Valerie, which signals a return to her Latine roots. Seeping in her vulnerable songwriting and effortless genre-bending, Tei Shi’s sound is a homogenous blend of endless genre curveballs —bachata, pop, R&B, tropicalia, electronic, and indie shoegaze are all to be heard. It’s a personal story of rebirth, love, loss, empowerment, and the life lessons learned. Bringing them to life for the first time ever, she remarked Boston was set to be a night of many firsts.
“It’s the beginning of a true new chapter to me, where I’m going to be able to define what my future is,” she told us. “Because I think with every past release, there was always me being tied to a situation that was not working for me, so the albums always felt like the end of something.” No longer obligated to complete albums for contracts and make it across the finish line, this newfound sense of freedom has empowered creatively.
“There was always some sort of attachment of it to something else and I think on this album, I’m like wow it’s out and I’m so excited to get it out, but it’s not the end of something. It’s the beginning of something. I feel like I’m finally gonna do it the way I’ve always wanted to. I think that’s honestly the thing that’s making me the happiest about it.”
Notably combining many eclectic styles, on Valerie, Tei Shi has synthesized her influences into experimental pop that she delivers in a wispy soprano. The new, raw body of work showcases her delicate vocals and one of her biggest and most underrated strengths – her songwriting and ability to jump in and out of languages.
“I feel like the idea of an artist that can be in both worlds and can be accessible to both worlds and cohesive, even when jumping form language to language, is something that was really hard for people to see,” Tei Shi reflected on past releases. “I definitely felt like I had to fight to get the songs that I was able to release in Spanish out. It was something that I definitely held within me for a long time, that frustration of not being able to record the way I wanted to. So now that I’m back to being independent, I was able to make and release this album under those terms. It was something that came more naturally and I definitely was more intentional about it.”
Part of the beauty of Tei Shi’s discography is her inclusivity and genre-jumping that opens the door to listeners of all kinds. While historically, one track to the next may sound different, on Valerie, the sonic tapestry of styles that blankets each song weaves a common thread throughout, and that is her return to her Colombian roots.
Bringing this world to life on stage, moody lighting transitioned through earthly shades of blues and greens and cast a subtle glow over the artist, as her body moved like water, ebbing and flowing through the waves of each melody. A backdrop of star lights shone bright like a constellation, as Tei Shi’s airy vocals felt transportive into this universe of her own making.
Canadian singer-songwriter Sean Nicholas Savage opened the night in a solo performance of his theatric ballads. Cast in near darkness, his stark set did little to energize the crowd ahead of Tei Shi’s performance, but primed fans for an emotional bearing of artistry.
After a dramatic introduction, “QQ (Quédate Queriéndome)” opened Tei Shi’s set in a beautiful orchestration of a cappella turned bachata-pop. Following tracks including “FAMILIAR,” “No Falta,” “GRIP,” and “No Juegues,” flowed beautifully through an array of styles. Without the accompaniment of a band, Tei Shi performed solo, with equipment at her control for each song to roll into the next. While she may have benefitted more from the resonance of a live band, each track still remained rich and encompassing.
Impressively putting the show together in under two weeks time, her creative direction and ultimate control colored the set with a personal touch. Her intimate showcasing of emotion and artistic freedom moved the set through each track in a vulnerable, yet rewarding display that left an indelible mark, perhaps even stronger than the music itself.
Opening up to the audience in between numbers and shaking off the nerves of opening night, Tei Shi introduced perhaps her most vulnerable track to date. “This was the first song I wrote for this album. Sometimes we go through periods where we get disconnected from ourselves and our purpose or whatever it is that drives us forward. I think music is really crazy ‘cause sometimes these messages pop up that you need and you’re not really sure of it yet. This song was truly that for me. It came kind of out of nowhere and made me know that I hadn’t completely lost myself, and it started the process of all of the songs that then started coming for this album. This is the first time ever performing it,” she introduced the title track “Valerie” before launching into an impassioned performance.
The night’s final performance of “When He’s Done” proved as a showstopper that saw the artist belting at a level unreached earlier in the night. Encores “Thief” and “OK crazy” further marked the set with a stamp of approval, as Tei Shi’s diverse soundscapes twisted once more. Her turn from delicately stunning vocals, to ethereal vibrancy, and raucous, highly-produced pop tracks was not jarring, but affirmative.
Tei Shi has found herself, through the innermost workings of Valerie, and she hopes you do too. Finding solace in the words she sincerely sings, she hopes that listeners of any identity can see their experiences in it too.
“I hope that I can somehow be an example of just keep going, just keep doing it. Keep going and work hard and really get to know yourself and trust yourself. I think especially for women or for minorities or people that might suffer from any sort of discrimination or double standards in the industry, at the end of the day if you keep going and keep refining yourself and work hard, I think that’s hopefully an inspirational thing that I can pass on to people,” she reflected at the end of our discussion.
On her newest and greatest chapter yet, Tei Shi is establishing herself as an assured, powerfully dynamic artist that has ascended to her true power. We know and love Tei Shi, but now we know Valerie too.
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PHOTO GALLERY BY: Nate Rocco
TEI SHI
SEAN NICHOLAS SAVAGE
