Shelita Burke – ‘Transfixed’ EP

Read the full review here: http://skopemag.com/2015/11/09/shelita-burke-transfixed-ep

Buy the Transfixed EP: physical CD here.

Buy the Transfixed EP: digital here.

Shelita Burke has put together a wonderful, mystical set of rhythms and melodies on her latest EP, Transfixed. Right from the drop as it opens – this lady stole my heartwith an absolutely inspiring performance through her vocals…jazzy in the sound…there’s a lot of style and grace here upon immediate first-impressions in listening to “Transfixed” as it begins. This title-track is completely smooth…beautiful in tone and its delicately-strummed guitar-melody compliments the vocals sweetly. Shelita’s started with a delicate rhythm but a very confident sound in her trembling voice – I was in love with the sound of “Transfixed” immediately. It was already incredible to think about the fact that this is her DEBUT recording…the first time out there and she immediately sparkles & shines.

But as much as I loved the song…there is absolutely stunning material directly to follow in “Pour.” I can cite incredible comparisons to well-known names like Feist, Cat Power, Mimicking Birds, Alt-J…Shelita fits right in with these stunning artists who all lead the way in creativity and combine elements of art & music. “Pour” is as bare-bones as a song could get and I wouldn’t change a damn thing. Most of Shelita’s album is blissfully simple in terms of just how much is added into the music and melody…

…in a way…isn’t it cheating? I mean…should you just be able to walk into the studio, high-five some engineers, set it to the PERFECTION-setting and just let Shelita do the rest? And by perfection setting – I basically mean RECORD…this lady needs zero special-effects, trickery or gimmickry to win you over – and she’s doing this on her own. Both “Pour” and “Gold” have the similar, wonderfully-unique qualities of her voice on beautiful display without over-complicating the background music to muddle anything up; they have their own personalities…”Pour” is much more towards the bright & sweet, whereas “Gold” is more pensive, darker and tense as it is hauntingly-gorgeous. Really inventive vocal-ideas and how they twist and turn through Shelita’s stunning range of octaves on “Gold” – I could listen to this lady sing all day, every day for the rest of my life quite comfortably.