Shura #3 - Just Once

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When you've set the bar as high as Shura did with "Touch" you have a lot to live up to, it's fair enough to say that my single of the year so far has created quite an impact, amassing over 600k's worth of plays on soundcloud alone, that's as a self-released track. The London based artist returns with her second track "Just Once", a track which happily lives up to all you could have hoped for.

"Just Once" could be an early sister of "Touch", based years before at the point of a relationship breakdown and sees Shura contemplating a one-night stand where names and identify blur amongst the desire to, as repeated throughout the song, "get lost". Musically the track is similarly restrained and luxurious with smooth, shimmering textures guiding Shura's softly spoken heartache. Another stunner then.

The Best Songs of 2014 So Far (Part Two)

10. Lazy Day - With My Mind

"With My Mind" is most fully realised track that Tilly has released thus far under her Lazy Day pseudonym. Earlier tracks shared on her Soundcloud suited the band name (currently just Tilly, with hopefully a live band and dates to follow) perfectly, full of plaintive daydreams and spacious, echoed vocals. "With My Mind" takes that further with a brooding intensity and a hypnotic guitar riff that will embed itself in your brain, couple it with Tilly's magnetic voice, her sumptuous, soothing tones wrap around you and soon you're lost deep within.



9. Rae Morris - Skin

Rae returns to make 2014 her own with a new track "Skin", easily her finest to date and as devastating a moment as the year has offered us to date. "Skin", and please excuse the pun, gets under exactly that as metronomic piano chords chime with elegant simplicity amongst delicate vocals and luscious string instrumentation. It's all beautifully timed and Rae's lyrics possess a dark, haunting edge, the result is sure to bring goose-bumps to listeners all over.



8.Sea Change - Bridges

Sea Change (aka Ellen Sundes) was one of my revelations at The Great Escape (and judging by the reviews I've read, many others too). Even as an act I'd blogged about before the festival I was taken aback by her live show, performing as a trio in a pitch black (and tiny) basement I saw as intense and chilly a set I've ever, extraordinarily dark, her (surprisingly) epic electronic soundscapes and bass guitar rhythms combined perfectly around her undeniably sweet, ethereal vocal. It was simply stunning. The studio version of "Bridges" was released a couple of days before I departed for Brighton and with some distance from that performance the track still mesmerises, it starts relatively calm with ambient glitches, effects and spectral vocals immersing you within its hypnotic, dream-like state before spiraling to a searing finale of electronic noise, guitar and emotion.



7. The Night VI - Sienna

"Sienna" is simply magnificent, built around the crystal clear voice of Sophie-Rose, here filled with more heartache and emotion that you could bottle, the track will connect with anyone whose ever let someone they love slip through their fingers (pretty sure that's most of us) and supported by spacious, blissed-out instrumentation it provides an irresistible listen from its first to last moment.



6. Lykke Li - Love Me Like I'm Not Made Of Stone

...sparse and confessional with languid, haunting acoustic echoes the sole accompaniment for Lykke's devastating delivery, you can tangibly feel her emotion throughout - what a beauty.



5. Sophie Jamieson - Stain / Other

"Stain" leaves exactly that on you, combining Sophie's delectable vocals, heart shattering lyrics and restrained instrumentation, the perfect marriage of space and structure to get under your skin with spine-tingling effect. The track comes backed with "Other", a fully realised beauty which highlights her bands influence more than ever. A stark, haunting drip feed of emotion.



4. Eliza Shaddad - You For Me

Labelled as a radio edit and yet six minutes in length (that's the same length as Bohemian Rhapsody, a story I'm sure we've all heard) the track epitomises the soft and graceful style of Eliza's music. "You For Me" really is as pretty a moment as I've heard all year, a genuine love song with ringing guitar patterns and a delicate, haunting backdrop which slowly introduces Eliza's stunning vocals, gorgeous and defiant, here coupled with lyrics as optimistic and heartfelt as you're ever likely to hear. "You For Me" is the sort of track that will bring you to a stand still whatever you are doing - simply magical.



3. Lisa Alma - Bittersweet

"Bittersweet", comes backed with a beautiful, pure black and white video, the imagery the perfect compliment to the track which leaves you longing, desperate for more. Backed by little more than subtle drum pad beats and minimal, spacious synths it's Lisa's vocal that steals the show and has me hooked. It immediately makes me think of Prince's falsetto, not just any old Prince either, the Purple One at his 80's best, seducing with every note, whispered, extended words that make you fall hopelessly under their spell. I love the extended outro too, with a smouldering guitar that captures the feeling of the track, just bloody gorgeous.



2. Broken Twin - In Dreams

A true highlight of an extraordinay album, as intimate and arresting an experience as music can offer



1. Shura - Touch

effortlessly sexy / cool melody that swoons amongst soft-glittering electronics and Shura's luxurious vocal, its simple and refined and despite its lyrics of "I wanna touch you but it's too late, I wanna touch you but there's history..." is straight-up baby-making music.



Hands down track of the year so far. Go and give it your love. 550k+ plays, Wow!!

Shura #2 - Touch

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I've been looking forward to hearing new material from Shura for a while now, it's crazy to think it was way back in 2011 that I first came across her 'night-folk' tracks produced with Hiatus. Both "River" and "Fortune's Fool" introduced a beautiful, soothing voice capable of healing broken hearts. Since there's been the odd further collaboration along the way but it wasn't until yesterday that Shura returned to my headphones with a track that wasn't at all what I was expected but had me hooked almost straight away...

"Touch" removes all of those earlier singer-songwriter trademarks and inside replaces them with a mid 90's R&B slow-jam. Here there's this effortlessly sexy / cool melody that swoons amongst soft-glittering electronics and Shura's luxurious vocal, its simple and refined and despite its lyrics of "I wanna touch you but it's too late, I wanna touch you but there's history..."  is straight-up baby-making music.

Cor.

Shura - New Music "Introducing"

http://www.weareshura.com/ / Facebook

This one is via one of my favourite blogs Flying With Anna, Shura is Aleksandra Denton from London and together with electronic producer Hiatus she's crafted an absolutely stunning track entitled "River". Her sound is self-described as night-folk and I can go with that for its blissful ambiance is undeniably calming and would suit the late hours perfectly.

Aleksandra's voice is soothing, soft and dreamy, matching the laid-back atmospherics of the backing beats and instrumentation perfectly. Listen below:

River [Hiatus + Shura] by shura

Their first single will be "Fortune's Fool" released via Akira Records and the video is below, the track is equally mellow and tranquil but perhaps more melodic, though the best word that can be used to describe the track is simply beautiful.

 Hiatus and Shura: Fortune's Fool by Hiatus

To date they've played a small handful of dates together, the next one booked is the 'Fortune's Fool' single launch on September 24th at Cargo (Full Details).