flyctory.com

Eliza Shaddad – The Woman You Want

Florian Buechting Media Review No Comments

Eliza Shaddad - The Woman You Want

Eliza Shaddad - The Woman You Want
4.4

Rating

 4.4/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Great voice
  • Beautiful storytelling
  • Very versatile songs

Flyctory.com Cons

  • Some songs are a bit too "experimental" to me

Eliza Shadad is a really interesting artist with international roots and influences. On 16th July 2021, she is releasing her second album The Woman You Want. Here is my opinion on the songs.

 

Eliza Shaddad – About The Artist

Eliza Shadad is a Scottish-Sudanese artist, who is doing experimental folk sounds. Her father is from Sudan, while her mother comes from Perth in Scotland. Her family moved a lot so that she live in Europe, the U.K., but also in Africa. She debuted with an EP in 2012, when she released the January – March EP. In 2014, she released another four track EP, Waters, the title track grew quite some attention. Overall, Shaddad released five EPs and her 2018 debut album Future – the last major release so far.

 

Eliza Shaddad – The Woman You Want – Track by Track

The nine track album lasts 34 minutes.

1. The Man I Admire

And I thought to myself how could you
Hide your head when your house is on fire?
Darling I know you feel blue
But where is the man I admire?

The album starts with the very quiet, high voice track The Man I Admire, one of the songs already public at album release. To me, especially the vocal performance is impressing. Nice, rather short (2:12 minutes) song.

2. Heaven

The Man I Admire to Heaven is quite a difference. This second track comes with a certain level of loudness, of power, from the very beginning. I feel a flavor of Alanis Morissette’s early works in this song. This also implies some cheekiness and straight directness in this song. Very good performance, great listen.

3. Fine & Peachy

The first chords of this song could easily be taken from Californication by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Finally, the style of these artists and Shaddad differ quite much. I enjoy the nice rhythm, the good groove of this track. The Alanis-factor has not faded yet, though.

4. The Woman You Want

The title track of the album ist hidden almost in the middle of the album. The song is back to the acoustic guitar-high voice sound. Thus, it feels to relate to The Man I Admire, but finally comes with much more energy. Most of all, though, I enjoy the song for the nice way the story of the song is told and how nicely it is put into a musical interpretation.

I can’t be the woman you want right now
Yeah it takes all I have just to be a little kind
And I don’t think I will be like this for long, but I just need a while
To allow my heaving mind to riot and my limbs to paralyze.

5. Waiting Game

If you need an example, in how far the sound of Eliza Shaddad is also “experimental”, how I called it int he bio, Waiting Game is a good example. The song is very atmospheric and comes with a lot of echo, electronic elements and thus also has a touch of slow synth pop. Shaddad is definitely creating a nice aura around the song, which even feels a bit of threatening.

6. Tired Of Trying

Tired Of Trying starts with monotonous rhythm and just very limited melodic elements. Shaddad is putting her gentle voice over this unstoppable-feeling bed of music. One of the more experimental tracks again. The song fascinates me, even though I could like not listen to it too frequently.

7. In The Morning (Grandmother Song)

I hear come back to me
Come back to your family
Oh it is too soon
To lose you

A very melancholic track, which has a very magical presence the more I listen to it. During my first listens, I have been rather mixed about the song. Now, it is definitely one of my favorites.

8. Now You’re Alone

The album started with two single releases – and the last two out of the nine tracks are know to Shaddad’s fans as well. Now You’re Alone is a lovely small track about about a breakup. Great vocal performance again,

9. Blossom

The album closes with Blossum, which has a nice ease and feels very playful. By that, it definitely makes me smile Beautiful one.

 

Eliza Shaddad – The Woman You Want – Spotify

Here is The Woman You Want on Spotify:

 

Eliza Shaddad – The Woman You Want – My View

There are two fascinating high-quality elements about The Woman You Want in my point of view. First of all, Eliza Shaddad impresses me with a very versatile and present voice. I just love to follow her songs. Secondly, I feel she has a great way to tell her stories. Overall, this leads to a really good album, even if some songs are bit too experimental in my point of view. A really nice listen.

 

British Media Reviews

Here are more music and other media reviews about bands originated in the United Kingdom:

 

Ships & Water Travel

Here are more Flyctory.com postings about Ships & Water Travel:

, , ,

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *